Trafficking, Magicking: the Pinkie-ing Reckoning
by Hinterland Seer
Summary: Pinkie Pie and Applejack have been spending more and more time together as family, and as Applejack has been working on the perfect apple tree, Pinkie understandably wants to help. Only, when Pinkie kills the tree, feels guilty, and runs to the Crystal Empire for help she gets into more than she can chew. What happens when Pinkie goes super-powered?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Come on Pinkie! We're gonna be late fer the train!" Applejack called from the edge of Sweet Apple Acres, quickly removing her Stetson to wipe her brow from the burning heat of summer. Applebuck season was finally finishing, but it was still summer, and she was ready to get to her cousins to help with their own harvest. She stomped her hoof impatiently, as Pinkie had been taking her sweet time getting ready for the 'extraneous family' outing they had planned. Applejack was standing out here in the heat, while Pinkie was doing whatever Pinkie stuff she did in the farmhouse.

"I'M COMING!" Pinkie's high pitch voice burst from the direction of the house, and before Applejack could react, with speed matching that of a crashing Rainbow Dash, a pink blur embedded itself with the wagon attached to Applejack's back. With a loud bang, and an explosion of harvesting supplies, followed shortly after by what the girls only referred to as "Pinkie Special Effects,' which were a cloud of confetti and other party paraphernalia, Applejack finally had her Pinkie.

"Pinkie, what in tarnation do ya think ya'r doin' dashing all mad like that out of the barn? Now, ah know ya are doin' just fine, so how 'bout we get his here show on the road? I wanna introduce you ta the finest apple tree orchards outside o' Ponyville." Before Applejack could help the Pink menace to her hooves, she found herself being pulled along by the pink mare, her wagon already righted, reloaded, and strapped to her back once more, as if nothing had happened at all. "Ya know ya don't need ta push me, right? Ah'm a perfectly grown mare and can haul this all on mah own, so you can stop the shovin', kay?"

"But you just said that we are going to be late, and I wouldn't want to miss this super fantastic trip with my sort-of-connected-but-not-confirmed-distant-relative! That would be bad family-ing right there. So let's get a move on, young mare, and lets go see that famous apple orchard of yours, and then we can do some super fun family stuff together!" Pinkie bounced in circles around the farmer as the pair made their way into town, walking at a hurried pace down the trodden dirt path.

The mares made good time, and caught the train with more than enough time to get settled for the long trip to Appleloosa. And as the two sat in their cart, idle talk coming from Applejack's end, while Pinkie babbled nonstop for nearly the whole trip, the day quickly passed for them. Applejack was anxious to get to her cousin's ranch house, though for an extra reason than spending time with Pinkie and Braeburn. She was packing a few other essential items for a tree that she had growing in town; the finest tree she ever did grown. The only reason she had it blooming in Appleloosa was because it was going to get the finest soil in the region, with the high mineral content only found in that small town. She was growing this to be the best tree any apple farmer would ever see, and she needed it in Appleloosa.

With night quickly descending, Applejack watched with concealed humor as Pinkie ordered every treat off the trolley, and with an equal amount of worry as Pinkie devoured the mountain of sweets on her lap. The farmer was worried about the sugar high Pinkie would no doubt suffer through, but she knew that the pink party pony would handle herself well enough for her. And a nasty sugar high did indeed hit Pinkie, and if they hadn't been trapped in a small train cart, Applejack was certain that Pinkie would have been more than capable of running all the way to the Crystal Empire and back, without running out of breath.

Applejack didn't even try to calm the mare down, knowing full well that Pinkie was in no state of mind to listen to anything anypony had to say. She could only sit down and wait this out, though every time that Pinkie did a sugar-crazed Pinkie would do, she had to offer apologetic smiles to the other boarded ponies. Many of whom were already hitting the sack and trying to get some shut eye before the long day coming up.

Eventually, Pinkie's system cleared most of the sugar, and she was finally able to sit still without shaking like she was a cat playing with a laser. Luckily for the rest of the passengers, the pink party mare had begun to quiet down right as Celestia lowered her sun, so that they could all relax in peace. Applejack smiled at Pinkie, silently thanking her for not going absolutely crazy, and the two shared a content smile only family could share. Then the best blessing Applejack could receive happened, and Pinkie suddenly lost all control, her eyes snapped shut, and her head nearly slammed into her chest. She was snoring before her eyes even closed, that happy little grin still glued to her face.

Applejack sighed in relief, the rest of the ponies in the cart doing so as well, and the energy in the room dropped significantly as the others realized now was their chance to fall into sleep. She watched as the now-sleeping Pinkie slowly leaned to her side, steadily stooping towards the seat. To save the filly-mare some time, Applejack stood up, walked over to her, and helped her lay down on the whole bench, before returning to her own. She was tempted to sprawl out like the pink party pony, but decided against it, instead settling to just lean against the back of the bench, lowering her hat over her eyes.

As the farmer let sleep drift over her, she hoped that once the two got to Appleloosa, Braeburn had taken good care of her tree. She knew that he was more than qualified to take care of the tree, but who could blame her: she had raised this tree as if it was her own foal. Soon, the sweet caress of slumber enveloped her in its tender hold, and she welcomed the chance to rest her weary mind after a busy day of preparing for the overnight trip.

As the train marched across the barren land, the gentle rocking of the cart, along with the soft rhythm of the rails under the wheels only lulled Applejack deeper into slumber. She was no longer able to maintain her grip on reality, and darkness overcame her at last.

Applejack awoke with a mighty yawn, and begun the daily routine of stretching every limb in her body, letting the stiffness from sleeping in a seated position all night leave her bunched muscles. As she arched her back, she lifted her Stetson off of her eyes, allowing her to see who else was up, as well as check the time. The morning was just beginning, with the sun rising from the eastern horizon, and she seemed to be the only pony awake at the moment. Stifling another yawn, she settled into her normal sitting position, while she looked around the cart, noting all the other ponies that were in similar predicaments she had been in. The ponies were either doing as she had done, with sitting as straight as possible, or had pulled a Pinkie, and were sprawled on their benches, sleeping as most normal ponies would.

Applejack stood from the bench, walking to Pinkie to wake her with a gentle shake, and through the early dawn sunlight, she could just see Appleloosa in the distance. She smiled as she thought about the trip, and all the good times she was going to have on this little visit with Pinkie.

The rest of the passengers began to wake up as the train was reaching the mile outside of town, and the energy in the cart was rising. Applejack was excited, and as the train pulled into the Appleloosa station, she could have been confused for Pinkie with the amount of giddiness she was displaying. Braeburn happened to be standing outside the doors, waiting with a fat grin on his face for his cousin. Pinkie had a moment of clarity in her mind, and she smiled happily at seeing Applejack so out of character, and it brought her immeasurable joy to see another pony, besides Cheese Sandwich of course, who was sharing her levels of excitement. She decided to hold back on the jumping around in joy until after she had gotten off the train, so she was more than willing to let Applejack carry the torch for a while.

The moment the doors slowly creaked open, Applejack yanked Pinkie off of her hooves and pulled her before the doors, allowing both mares to be blasted by the dust coming from the station. Once the doors had opened enough for the pair to get out, she hauled Pinkie along, then let the mare go so she could meet Braeburn half way between them. The two shared an impressive hug that those that witnessed it would have sworn would hurt another pony.

"Ah'll be right back, Ah just got some things ta get from the back of the train, and then we can go over to the farm an' talk 'bout the harvest, yeah?" She didn't wait for an answer, she just took off at a steady trot, heading towards the storage cart where her cart was. Braeburn opened his jaw to tell her something, but she was gone before he could get a sound out, so he just turned to Pinkie, who smiled merrily and shrugged. He shook his head, knowing full well that Applejack was going to be excited for this year's harvest, especially with that tree of hers that she had spent the last few months meticulously caring for. He motioned with his head for Pinkie to follow, then began to walk after his cousin, hoping to catch her before she decided to run off too far.

He hadn't even gotten past the cart that they rode in before she flew back to them, grinding to a halt and creating a bit of a dust cloud, inciting the passersby to start coughing. Once the cloud had settled, the groups of ponies around them attempted to glare at Applejack for making a dust cloud when there was already so much dust, only they didn't get very far, as the mare in question was already gone for good. She was busy hauling both Braeburn and Pinkie in her cart of supplies out of the station and towards the farmhouse that the former stayed in. As she pulled the two along, she made great time, and in less than two minutes, she slid to a stop in front of the porch. Sitting on the porch, enjoying some apple cider while taking a break from the beating sun, was a still small Little Strongheart.

"Howdy, there, Miss Strongheart. Ah see ya sitting there and enjoying a bit 'o the shade and famous Apple Family Cider." Applejack called out as she unhitched herself from the wagon, though both Pinkie and Braeburn had to steady heir shaking heads and pause for a moment to eliminate the dizziness. The agile buffalo set her mug on the table and stood on all fours, walking to greet her friend in a hug.

"Yes, this summer has been pretty rough on us."

"Ya can say that again: Ponyville has felt like it's been roastin' in an oven, and we've felt like we're the apple pies bein' baked. Ah can just barely imagine what ya'll have had to deal with out here in the empty plains an' all that, just has to be bad." Applejack said as the two parted ways, allowing Pinkie to run up from the wagon and pull Little Strongheart into a mighty hug. "Been a while since we had Pinkie up here for somethin'."

As friendly banter was being spread between the three of them, Braeburn grabbed Applejack's wagon and started pulling it around back so that he could put the stuff away. Applejack saw what he was doing, and made her excuse to get away, intending to help him move the things inside that she needed in there, but also wanting to help him know what she needed out here for the tree.

"Hey, Braeburn, wait up a moment, would ya?" She asked as she trotted up to him as he turned around the back corner of the farmhouse, him leaning back around it so he could look at her, a confused look on his face. "Just wanted ta let ya know which stuff Ah need to stay out here, and what Ah'd like for ya ta help me take inside."

The two quickly placed the wagon up against the back wall of the building, and began to unload everything that they needed. It wasn't terribly difficult, as she had already sorted everything, well, she was actually forced into letting Twilight sort everything, as that mare had a way with persisting to organize that made her crazy. She grabbed the two medium sized bags that Twilight had already packed, one meant for her and the other, which was packed with candies, was safely bet to be Pinkie's. She thanked Braeburn for the assistance, and went back to the front of the house, where Pinkie and Strongheart had begun an energetic game of tag. The Apple's simply sighed and shook their heads in humor, knowing that while Pinkie had energy and some speed, she was playing way out of her league.

Eventually, the gamers saw that their host and cousin of host had returned from the trip, but what really caught Pinkie's attention was the subtle scent of candy wafting in the sweltering heat. She had literally frozen mid-air, her nose suddenly taking quick whiffs of the air, her head slowly inclining towards the bag sitting on Applejack's back. She didn't even bother landing back on the ground, and allowing the now-visible scent-trail to pull her closer to her farmer friend.

The pink party pony gently touched back down in front of Applejack, staring at her with a small string of drool hanging limply from her muzzle as she stared at the farmer with begging eyes. Applejack, meanwhile, could only watch in equal parts disgust and amazement at how Pinkie was always able to shatter reality just to get a laugh out of somepony. Braeburn was, of course, laughing his flank off at the sight of a floating earth pony who was now begging for a snack. Eventually, the begging got to Applejack, so she turned her head and grabbed the bag in her jaw, tossing it in the air in front of Pinkie.

The pink mare did a backflip underneath the floating bag, then leapt into the air and snatched it with vicious movements of her hooves. She had begun munching on the candy before she touched down, in typical Pinkie fashion, not that any of the others really minded. Pinkie was going to Pinkie.

"So, how about we all head into the house an' get ourselves settled, then Pinkie and Ah can go visit mah tree and see how the beauty's doin'?" Applejack asked as she led the snacking Pinkie towards the front porch before turning around so she could speak with Little Strongheart. "Are ya gonna be around here for the next couple 'o days? 'Cause Pinkie an' Ah are going to be here for today an' tomorrow, and we don't have a whole lot planned."

Little Strongheart nodded in affirmation, and smiled before taking off, presumably back to her tribe. Applejack was grateful that the whole Buffalo-Pony conflict was resolved the way it was, and it meant that more and more creatures would get to experience the greatness that was an Apple Family Apple Pie. Her family pride always made things like these extra sweet, because the town had been saved, her family got to keep an amazing farm, and they all had more ponies and creatures wanting the best apples in Equestria. Braeburn led them inside, showing them to the room that they would share.

The room itself was far roomier than Applejack would have thought, as if the building was larger inside than it looked from the outside. Not that she was complaining, of course, just that it pleasantly surprised her. She was going to lay on her bed, to help ease her muscles, but the day was still young, and she had a lot to do. She led Pinkie out of the room once they had gotten their things settled, though Pinkie was now short quite a bit of candy. They made their way into the living room, where Braeburn was busy sitting on a couch, sipping at a mug of apple cider the aroma covering the room in spiced apples and utter delight to Applejack's nose.

"Pinkie an' Ah are gonna head on out and spend some time in town before we come back and help ya with the last of the harvest. Expect us ta be back in 'bout an hour an' a half, maybe two if we get held back." She explained as she led a very excited, bouncing blur that was Pinkie out the front door once again. The two made their way into town, deciding to make an immediate pit stop at the local saloon to get a drink before the heat got too bad. They walked in through the typical western-style swinging doors, and had to pause at the door, as there were a few ponies horsing around at the entrance. It looked like a friendly scuffle, so neither mare made an effort to intervene, and instead chose to walk to the bar counter, where two stools lay bare of pony behinds. The took their seats and waited for the bartender to give them the only drink available: apple cider. For Applejack, living in a town built for apple farming, this was basically the best paradise her family could ask for: weather that grew some of the better apples this side of Equestria, friendly locals. Even the stampeding buffalo had proven to be great for the town, giving it the atmosphere that she just loved, like a massive family that had put their hooves into everything that happened around here.

As they sipped on their drinks, the two made plans for what they wanted to do, who they were going to visit, and what else they could do before they went back for the final harvest. Pinkie started an argument with one of the locals over the best tasting apple cider, her siding with Applejack, while the local was, obviously, siding with Appleloosa. Applejack was thinking about stopping it, but she was more than happy to see one of her closest friends, basically family, standing up for her and what she took utmost pride in. That said, she was content watching the two stubborn ponies standing their ground. The argument was broken when Pinkie was offered another mug of cider, to which she downed without hesitation, though the act seemed to be all the local needed to cease the banter.

"Let's ago, Applejack!" Pinkie led the way through the saloon, and the spent close to two hours talking with locals, and just enjoying the time together, though the heat bothered them, they weren't about to let some harsh weather ruin the trip.

As they made their way back to the farmhouse, Applejack was getting nervous about seeing how well her tree was doing. She knew the worry was pointless, but she just couldn't help herself, she really wanted to see that the tree was doing fine, even if she knew it was, she just had to see it. Pinkie picked up on her thoughts as the pink party pony bounced around her, and attempted to ease the unease with a cascade of punny apple jokes that had the farmer groaning the whole trip back. Eventually, they found themselves standing at the back of the farmhouse, waiting on Braeburn to get them some buckets to finish this year's harvest. Pinkie was taking the mantle of catching falling apples, while both Apples were going to do the bucking, as to be expected.

Even in the midday blistering heat, they all had more than enough enjoyment out of the hard labor, something both Applejack and Braeburn were used to, and Pinkie had grown up with. Farms ran in all of their blood, so the work was pleasant, and the heat wasn't unbearable. Two hours passed before they knew it, but the harvest was getting to the halfway point, but Braeburn knew that they should take a break. He pulled the two under the leaves of a nearby apple tree, dragging one of the buckets filled with apples with him, and they all enjoyed a lunch break in the shade with some might fine apples to munch on. Half an hour later, and the urge to get this over with returned in Applejack, and she was the first to rise back to the challenge. Braeburn hesitated for a moment, not quite wanting to put his muscles back under pressure, but his competitiveness with his cousin would not allow him to sit idly by while she worked. Not on his watch.

Pinkie, as was always the case with Pinkie, was basically powered by the sun, and was already bouncing under the next tree Applejack was going to buck, her bucket already on her head as she prepared for the load to drop. And two more hours passed, during which they made significantly more progress, finishing the remaining sections of the orchard.

"Ah think Ah'm gonna go head on inside an' clean up before going to check on that tree, Braeburn, so if ya need me, ya'll know where ta find me." She called as she took off at a trot to get to the farmhouse, ready for a wonderful cool, relaxing shower to wash this sweat off of her. Pinkie bounced merrily behind her, though Braeburn nodded and continued to walk in the shade under the trees.

Applejack felt that the shower was possibly the best thing about the day so far, though spending two whole hours with Pinkie was a close contestant. She was toweling herself off in her and Pinkie's room when the latter came in, somehow in possession of her Stetson. She blinked in confusion before Pinkie was suddenly in front of her. "So, how big is the tree? I mean, I already know, because I may or may not have already snuck a peak at it during our lunch break, but I really want to hear you say how big you think it is because when I looked it was pretty big, but I've seen a lot bigger at your farm."

Applejack waited for Pinkie to inhale before she snatched her hat back and placed it back over her straw-blonde mane. "Ah think it's getting alright, but still has a few more years before it'll be ready for harvest, and it'll be growin' during that time. Don't worry 'bout it, Pinkie, 'cause it'll get bigger, and it'll be the best darn tree Ah think Ah've ever grown."

"Or course it's going to be the best tree you've ever grown, you've been spending so much effort taking care of it, some ponies might have thought you were raising a foal!" Applejack had to shake her head, though she knew that she had spent a lot of extra time growing this tree, but it wasn't really out of character for her to take an invested interest in a growing apple tree. "But that's why we're going to go see it, right? Maybe I can help you. Ooh, that would be amazing, the two of us getting to spend family time by helping make that tree super big and strong!"

Applejack chuckled, because Pinkie had basically read her mind, though she had a few other ideas that she had buzzing around in her head. Still, she smiled warmly and nodded at Pinkie, making the pink party pony only gasp and bounce around with extreme Pinkie-ness.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Sure is a mighty fine tree, ain't it, Pinkie?" Applejack asked as she led the pink party through the apple orchard to a fenced in glade between the rows and rows of apple trees. In the center of the glade was a maturing apple tree sapling, though the leaves growing on it appeared to have apple-red tips. The slim trunk of the tree was a beautiful golden shade, as if gold had been dusted into the bark as it grew, inly more evidence of the rich soil in the region. Pinkie gasped at the sight of the young tree, barely taller than they were, and leaped over it, trying to take in as much of it as possible.

"This tree is gorgeous, Applejack, how in the world of Equestria did you get something that looks so scrumdiddlyumptious?" She said as she made circles around the tree, staring at the branches, as if expecting to see apples there.

"Ah spent the last year puttin' a whole heap of time an' effort into bringing this here tree up right, staying up late to make sure it was perfectly set straight for the night, pruning the branches every weekend. Ah sent it here just at the start of summer, hoping that the soil would do it some fine wonders, and fine wonders it did indeed do." Applejack explained, smiling as she walked around the sapling once, doing a once over to make sure that it was still in perfect condition. She was more than pleased with the results of the tree spending a few months here, as it had already grown quite a bit, any more time here, and she imagined she would have some difficulty getting it back on the train for the trip back to Ponyville.

"And wow! I bet that this tree is going to give the best tasting apples anypony has ever tasted!" Pinkie burst happily, bouncing in place as she looked at Applejack. The farmer pony was very satisfied with how the tree was growing, but she knew that she had to get it back to Ponyville, Sweet Apple Acres more specifically, before too long so that she could work on it a lot more. She felt that it was important to let Pinkie know about that.

"Pinkie, Ah gotta just let ya know that Braeburn an' Ah are plannin' on getting' up bright an' early ta dig this beauty up, an' whenever ya are ready to get this show on the road, we can head back to Ponyville. When we get home, Ah'm gonna take this tree an' plant it right where it needs ta be fer me to take good care 'o it." She said as she led the pink pony out of the fenced glade, intending to take her back to the farmhouse to enjoy some more family bonding time. Pinkie reluctantly followed, eyes glistening with wonder and never leaving the sapling until it was blocked from her eyes by the other apple trees in the orchard.

Family bonding time is something that both Pinkie and Applejack thoroughly enjoyed, and while the former was always thinking about how to make this trip even better, she was plagued with desire. She was really interested in that tree, more interested than she had ever been before, in her head, her thoughts always ended up circling back to the small sapling growing in the glade.

Part of her worried that the moving process would harm the tree, but Applejack had said that she had moved the tree here in the first place, so she figured that the process wouldn't be harmful. That fueling her will to engage in the activities all the more intensely, she found joy bonding with Applejack and Braeburn. One thing that surprised her greatly was how much she enjoyed spending time with the batter, he was fun to be around, and she hoped that he spread her fun with the rest of the town, just like they had when the girls had first gotten there. And the rest of the day passed on with her being especially overjoyed at the prospect of getting home with her even more closely bonded Applejack, and that wonderful tree. As night approached, she had to pause to realize just how fast the day had gone by, because she was having so much fun that she didn't even realize that they had spent the whole day being a family, and she got warm feelings spreading all over her stomach.

After a very exciting day full of family and fun, Pinkie accepted that she was going to need to get as much sleep as possible: she was going to help remove the tree. She collapsed onto her mattress with a loud sigh, curling up under her blanket despite the summer night's temperature being perfectly comfortable without one. Her mind nearly shut down instantly, the only thing drifting her drifting conscious thoughts was hope that Gummy was having as much fun as she was.

The sun wasn't even close to the horizon yet when Pinkie woke up, and when she was aware that she was awake, she jumped out of bed, only to crash to the floor. Luckily for her, Applejack slept through the clamor, and she chuckled to herself as she stood and dusted herself off. She still had an embarrassed grin on her face, but she didn't care, she just made her bed with a blur of motion, and then went to the kitchen. She grabbed the coffee pot, filling it with water so she could surprise the other two with an amazing cup of Pinkie's morning Joe. She had gotten the coffee machine heating before she was surprised with the arrival of Braeburn.

"You're up early." He commented tiredly as he walked to the coffee pot that she had already gotten going, only to blink in surprise that it was running. He sighed to himself, rubbing his face with a hoof as he made his way to the table, sitting down roughly as he tried to get him brain functioning. He was starting to regret the heavy partying and fun that Pinkie had encouraged him to endure, and while he had enjoyed himself, he still had so much to do. He waited for the coffee to brew, and while he did so, he listened to the sounds of the early morning, many of which were interrupted by Pinkie's merrily humming. Pinkie had made a comment on his observation, but he was still far too groggy to hear her.

"Applejack will be awake in five. . . four. . . three. . . two. . . annnnnnd. . ." Pinkie motioned with her hoof to the hallway, where a somewhat tired Applejack walked out of, though the timing was only improved when outside a rooster began to crow, signaling the beginning of a new day.

"You're up early, Pinkie." Applejack remarked as she walked over to the kitchen sink, filling a glass with water before drinking the whole glass in a single drought. Pinkie giggled at the mimicked observation that the farmers had, but her attention was shifted to the sound of the coffee pot filling with sweet, sweet coffee. As it filled, she went through the cupboards, looking for the sugar, eventually getting help from a sleepy Braeburn.

Coffee, blessed hot coffee for all who are preparing for a long work day. Pinkie threw in a heaping load of sugar into the mugs of Braeburn's and hers, though she only gave Applejack a dash, upon request. Applejack drank the coffee begrudgingly, her opinion of the drink being that it serves its purpose as an emergency energizer, the role that Pinkie also served on occasion. The farmer was understandably concerned that Pinkie was basically inhaling both caffeine and a large amount of sugar, but she knew that the energy would be useful if she needed to have the pink party pony's help with moving the tree. Unlikely, but possible.

The work to dig up the apple tree's roots was as easy as Applejack was expecting it to be, considering the time, the heat already gathering, and the effect a hot cup of coffee had on Braeburn. Then there was Pinkie, who could have probably just dug the tree out with her bare hooves, and not the shovels they were using. Still, Applejack wasn't going to deny a chance for the two of them to work on a project that she was proud of together.

And once they had the tree successfully cleared from the soil, and delicately placed in a soil bag to be transported to the train, they went back to the farmhouse to gather the miniscule amount of belongings that they had brought. Applejack was in a bit of a rush, something that Pinkie wished she could reflect, but she knew that she didn't have to worry about anything, not when her friend was already going over everything they needed to get done. Applejack could have this opportunity to let her inner Twilight shine, meticulously going over everything, while Pinkie could be her Pinkie self. Pinkie did help by moving a lot of the items into the wagon that Applejack would pull, as well as sorting everything out.

Applejack insisted on making everything extra tidy so they she would have room in the wagon for the tree, which Pinkie was happy to oblige with. Eventually, they had everything packed about as much as they were ever going to really get, and they made their way to the edge of the orchard, where an idle Braeburn stood next to the apple tree. Both mares took extra care in loading the tree into the wagon, though Pinkie was mostly doing it to please Applejack.

Trekking back to the train station proved uneventful for the two mares, and they soon found themselves sitting in front of the tracks, waiting under the shade of the slanted roof of the station itself, the train that they would take was due to arrive in fifteen minutes, so they were stuck playing the waiting game. As the two sat there, Applejack told Pinkie about some of the things that she had done, which she was comfortable admitting some were a little out of the box actions, to keep this tree in perfect health. Pinkie enjoyed the time killer, and anything that got them to take their minds off the endless heat that they would soon be escaping was a welcome addition to the trip.

Safely tucking the tree in and empty cart near the back of the train, the two prepared for a long trip back home, with them both making sure to enjoy the apple snacks that Applejack had in her pack. Much to their pleasure, the train ride back wasn't nearly as long as they had figured, especially with Applejack's relief that her precious had come out perfectly safe. Getting off at Ponyville Station, Applejack made a beeline for her farm, massive wagon hitched to her back and billowing dust as she hurried home.

Pinkie would have helped, but as she had explained on the train, the Cakes were expecting her back at Sugarcube Corner to help for the rest of the day.

So Applejack carted her tree back to the farm, nearly knocking over Big Mac and Sugar Belle, though she hollered an apology over her shoulder as she went. Applejack slid her wagon to a stop just in front of the barn, unhooking herself before she had even stopped, and was checking on the tree while the wagon leaned on two wheels. She had the tree safely out of the wagon in time to watch the transport fall back onto four wheels, letting the dust settle before she took off again. She had been waiting for this for a while, and her energy was getting to be too much for her to deal with: she had to plant this tree and get it back into Apple Family soil before too long. She had even set up the perfect area in her orchard for it: a small clearing that had enough space to allow for constant sunlight, yet the area had trees close by so that hers didn't feel lonely.

She had thought of everything this tree would need: there was a sprinkler to supply water three times a day, a seeder that would sprinkle fertilizer once a day to keep the tree full on nutrients, a blanket rolled up nearby to keep the tree warm at night. She even had a stack of books close by, just so she could read the tree a bedtime story.

As the week wore on, Applejack began to ease up, knowing that she was putting a lot of effort into taking care of the tree. She had everything set up and protected, everything in order and waiting to be dealt with when the right time came, yet she was so engrossed in her tree duties, that she had been slacking on her others.

This was made especially apparent when three things arrived just outside her bedroom door one morning, literally. She groaned loudly as she crawled out of bed, the sun was shining through her window, which meant that she had overslept. Opening her door, she was greeted by her friends, and her family, the latter of which had a mix of concerned and frustrated looks on their faces. "Mornin' everypony."

"Applejack, you look positively dreadful!" Rarity gasped, holding a hoof up to her mouth.

"Are you feeling alright, there Applejack? I have to agree with Rarity on this: because you do look like you spent the last week hoofing it out in the open desert." Rainbow Dash said, the group of ponies backing from the doorway to allow their farmer friend to leave her room. "Not to mention that we haven't seen a whole lot of you over the last three days, and not even Applebloom or Big Mac have seen you much."

"Applejack, you know what we said about working yourself too hard on the farm, and that if you ever needed any help, we are always willing to offer our hooves." Twilight said with a touch of concern in her voice, offering a reassuring smile to Applejack, who was busy wiping the sleep from her eyes.

"Yeah. I know. It's just that Ah've been so plum-tuckered out lately now that Ah got the tree back, an' Ah wanted to make sure that it got enough attention so that it turns out perfect." Applejack explained as she looked between the ponies gathered around her in the cramped hallway. "But Ah agree with ya: Ah've spent a mighty too much time out here working with that tree, an' I love ta spend time with ya'll. It's just that, Ah don't really know how ta go about taking care 'o the tree without taking time outta mah day."

"Ooohhh, right here! Right here!" Pinkie shouted, jumping up and down while flailing her hooves in the air like a mad pony. The group collectively groaned at her antics, complete with Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Big Mac all face-hoofing. Twilight smiled at her pink friend and nodded for her to say her piece, knowing what was to come having already spoken with her earlier. "Why don't you just let me take care of the tree, so then you, Rarity and Rainbow Dash could all go to the Spa together!"

Applejack blinked at the pink party pony, not quite comprehending what the mare was saying, but then it clicked, and she immediately had mixed feelings about it. "Ah. . . suppose that'd be alright."

She had to think about this a little bit more, wondering just what she was about to get herself into. Unfortunately, Pinkie had other ideas, as she embraced the farmer in a tight bear hug, squeezing all the air out of her lungs and any thoughts from her head. Eventually, after Applejack's face started turning blue, the Pink Menace finally deemed her worthy of breathing again. "AWESOME! I get to take care of Applejack's most highly, super incredibly, most fantastically amazing, perfect apple tree ever! Woohoo!"

"Now, calm down there Pinkie Pie. Ah know ya like to do things fer yer other friends, but that kinda energy won't be taken well by the apple tree. Let me just get ya a list for everything ya are gonna need to do while we're gone." She paused at the door as she thought about what the tree needed, and then the realization of her situation hit her like a brick wall. "Ah shoot!"

"Yeah?" The group collectively asked, leaning in to listen to her.

"Ah overslept, and now Ah gotta go help the tree!" And without any further explanation, she was gone, out the window and through the orchard and out of sight before they could even blink. Eventually, they did blink, and many times as they witnessed first hoofed how strange Applejack was acting. The group looked between themselves, hoping that somepony had an answer for what that was.

"So, that just happened." Rainbow commented, the rest of the group could only nod in agreement. Nothing more could be said.

The girls and Big Mac went downstairs, heading out of the building to try to find Applejack before she got too far, though they all figured that she was already beyond sight. Still, they all walked into the entrance of the apple orchard, all of them staying within eyesight of the farmhouse. After about ten minutes, they found the farmer mare's clearing, though, and they all grouped together to talk to her. They walked into the clearing to see Applejack stooped next to the tree, constantly talking to the thing and rapidly apologizing for being late. Without needing to say anything, the entire group knew that they had to get the mare away from the farm for a little while.

"Applejack, I brought some paper and a quill, so if you could just tell me what you need Pinkie to do while you are gone, then we can all just get on our ways and get you some time to wind down." Twilight said, summoning her trusty quill and a few sheets of paper to write down, and to their relief, Applejack seemed to return to normal. The mare stood up from her position, and grinning embarrassedly turned to the group.

"Sorry ya'll had ta see that. Ah just don't know what got inta me." She proceeded to ignore their acceptance of her apology and told Twilight everything that Pinkie would have to do, and after a solid five minutes of explaining all that she had done, the group looked at the list. It covered three pages, front and back, detailed everything that Pinkie would have to do, step by step, even offering timeframes that certain events should happen in, and they all couldn't help but whistle at the thought that Applejack put into this list off the top of her head. Twilight nodded, hoping to get Applejack away from the tree before it called her back to its services, and magically shoved the list to Pinkie before her horn flared and all the girls wound up at the spa, leaving a stunned Pinkie to take care of the tree.

Pinkie, feeling the importance of getting this right on the first time, looked at the list, and began working on the chores. Unfortunately, Pinkie was never what one could call the brightest cupcake in the bakery, and she hit a roadblock only five minutes after the group had left. She had to feed the tree, but Applejack had never specified what to fee it: only saying that she had to give less than twenty ounces of water with the meal. Applejack had gone into detail about what could go wrong, but never once had she informed Pinkie about what foods an apple tree ate. Did apple trees even eat? Should she get some cakes from Sugarcube Corner? Should she feed it apples? Was that even okay, to feed an apple tree apples? She was at a total loss, but decided that if she didn't know what food to choose, maybe she didn't have to choose. She bounced back to the farmhouse, intending to bake and cook everything that came to mind, so that something was bound to be yummy for the tree.

After half an hour in the kitchen baking profuse amounts of food that Pinkie could only equate to three of her luxurious parties, she mixed it all in one big pot, turning each delectable food item into a broth of repugnant odor. Good thing trees don't have a sense of smell.

Out at the orchard, Pinkie drug the large pot of mixed food to the tree, and began to dump the mixture around the roots of the tree, hoping that it would soak into the ground. Her hopes seemed to come to fruition, sort of, it began to slip into the dirt a little, though more closely resembling that time she had dropped acid from one of Twilight's experiments. Almost immediately, the tree seemed to take a darker color, and before Pinkie knew it, all the glisteningly beautiful leaves dropped onto the ground.

Pinkie frowned, not quite sure what to do to help the tree, yet before she could think of an idea, the bark began to blister, and she knew that the tree had died. Her heart fluttered for a moment, and Pinkie truly feared that her eyes weren't deceiving her, and that this tree had actually died. She began to beg the tree to stand tall again, as it started to droop, and she picked up the leaves and tried to shove them back onto the branches, only to have them fall once more.

The more she attempted to fix the dying tree, the worse things got, as she grabbed glue and began to glue the leaves back on, the glue stuck dust and dirt to the once-perfect branches. She tried to force the nasty mixture of food from the roots with a hose, but that only spread the stuff everywhere. The roots curled from the ground, and the tree leaned further downwards. She started to panic more, and even tried begging to the tree for forgiveness just as Applejack had tried earlier, and she was met with equal amounts of success that Applejack had. Because plants don't have any way of showing things like forgiveness.

"Oh, please don't die! I don't want to lose Applejack's trust on something like this! Please come back! Pretty Please?!" She started to sob uncontrollably as she realized how bad this was for her: this was Applejack's most prized tree, and she had just killed it. She didn't know what to do, and an hour had already passed by. She knew that the girls would be back at some point soon, and if they saw the tree like this, she didn't want to think what they would do or say to her. She came to the most logical conclusion her shattered mind could come up with, and an overly elaborate plan began to unfold in her mind.

She ran to the barn, grabbing a shovel while she thought of places she could hide the tree, and as she thought about it, she dug the dead sapling from its clearing. She wasn't really satisfied with what she had come up with, but time was short and she was running out of ideas, so she hauled the bare, dead tree to the barn, throwing it in the rafters and hoping that Applejack never looked up there.

She left the barn, thinking that she had done the best she could, and hoping that things didn't get terrible when she had to come up with a way to lie to the Element of Honesty. She knew this was going to explode in her face, she just didn't want to accept that reality, so she did the Pinkie thing to do, and made her own reality, where nopony would ever find out what she had done. Yeah, her reality was a far superior one to the one they lived in now.

Meanwhile, at the Ponyville Spa:

"Thanks fer the trip to the spa, girls. Ah really needed some time away from the farm, but Ah just can't believe that things just got so far outta hoof like that. Maybe Ah just needed ya girls so much more than Ah thought." Applejack confessed as they made their way back to the farm, each very much more relaxed now that they had a special session. Rarity had insisted a deep tissue massage for the farmer, which Applejack was very grateful for, as her back and legs felt _great_.

They walked through the farm entrance, and noted that Pinkie wasn't visible, so they all figured that she had been busy finishing up whatever was on the list. Applejack was a little anxious to see the tree, but that trip to the spa really calmed her nerves to the point that she was confident that Pinkie was able to hold her own for a couple of hours. They all walked towards the clearing, but when they broke through the orchard cover, they were met with an empty clearing, not even the supplies were there. It was as if neither Pinkie nor the tree had ever existed.

Applejack couldn't do anything but stare at the gaping hole in the dirt, evidence that somepony had dug up her tree, and the lack of a Pinkie was highly concerning. The girls began to whisper amongst themselves as they tried to figure out what happened, only to get nowhere. Applejack was completely unresponsive to anything they said to her, and it was only when they had to shake her did she show any response to them, which was a whimpering whisper. "Ah knew Ah should've stayed right here."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Pinkie trotted away from the barn, hoping that her thin reality held true, as life seemed to press her vision for the world in the strangest ways. As she made her way from the barn, she glanced around the clearing, glad that none of the dirt she dragged with the tree was easily visible, buying her precious time to reinforce her Pinkie will on Equestria. All she had to do was head inside and focus for a little bit, maybe think extra hard and beg the universe to listen to her.

She nodded and began to head towards the farmhouse, but was stopped by desperate hollering coming from the orchard. She stopped, looking at the trees with a deeply confused expression on her pink features. "Well that's funny: Applejack's trees don't normally talk with me, that's the job of the ones over at Cottontail woods, and even if they did: they most definitively wouldn't sound like Applejack."

Suddenly, a worried Applejack burst from the orchard, slamming into Pinkie and the two collapsed to the ground in a twist of limbs and hair. Applejack rolled over until she was sitting on Pinkie, eyes wide with terror and concern, her hat drifting from the skies to land crookedly on the farmer's head. Pinkie giggled when Applejack didn't move to adjust it and did it for her, though the latter only swiped at her pink legs as she tried to move.

"Pinkie Pie! What happened to the tree?!" Her eyes were frantic, though Pinkie felt herself snap a little, unsure how to deal with the break in realities. After a half second of blankly staring at the farmer, her head made a decision, and a massive grin split her face, though the sadness and regret were horribly visible in her eyes. She forced Applejack off of her and stood up, dusting her pink fur clear of the dirt, eyes never leaving the orange mare.

"Oh, silly! You had me worried for a moment, like I thought that there was some horrible news that you were about to give me. Well, no bother: the tree is just taking a quick little nap."

"Out of the orchard?!" Applejack gasped at Pinkie's explanation, taking her hat off her head and holding it to her chest in an attempt to keep her pounding heart inside her ribcage. Pinkie nodded happily, but her mane deflated a bit and lost much of the bright pinkness to it, leaving her resembling the time she thought her friends didn't like her parties. The sudden transformation seemed to take the girls by surprise, who each stepped back in mild horror as flashbacks briefly raced through each of their minds.

"It's just up in the rafters of the barn." Her happiness faded as her grin vanished into a depressed frown as she stepped out of the way to let the rushing Applejack charge straight into the barn. The farmer wasted no time in spotting the dead sapling, and while she knew what to expect, it still saddened her to no end. The girls all followed in after her, arriving to see the mare using her lasso to bring the tree down, each giving a small gasp of horror at what they saw. "I tried to feed it something, but when I mixed all the foods I made, the tree didn't like it, and it sort of died."

"You killed mah perfect apple tree?" Applejack stared at the dead plant, eyes glistening a little as tears threatened to spill, though the leaks hinting at existence were nothing compared to the torrential downpour coming from a distressed Pinkie. The pink mare was constantly begging for forgiveness and apologizing for killing the plant, going so far as to hit her head on the nearest beam she was next to. The girls were only able to make out a few words over the wailing, mostly her repeating how stupid she was for not being able to take care of a single tree for a couple of hours. Twilight and Rarity attempted to console her, but they weren't able to get through to her, and she kept on banging her head on the beam, and with the dust beginning to fall, it seemed she would win the fight against it. It took the girls getting through to Applejack first from her grief and having the farmer herself approach the pink party pony. "Pinkie Pie, listen ta me. Ah'm not angry at ya fer what ya did, sure Ah'm a little sad, a touch 'o disappointment, but your friendship mean more ta me than some stupid little tree. Ah know ya tried yer best, and Ah can't blame ya fer that."

But Pinkie wasn't having anything, the moment Applejack had said 'disappointed,' Pinkie stopped her wailing, then nearly teleported out of the barn, leaving a dust image of herself in her wake. The barn doors swung limply as they readjusted to the movement of the pony, and the girls were left blinking at the sudden disappearance of the mare.

Pinkie had ran, she ran as fast as her hooves could carry her, and she ran for what felt like an eternity, but in reality had been a total of five minutes. Still, in those five minutes, Pinkie was already out of town from the opposite side that she had gone through, leaving a pink blur as she neared the speed needed to make a Sonic Rainboom. Nearly. She stopped for breath at the edge of town, sitting atop a hill as she wondered just what she was going to do to remedy this: she knew that there were a few options but none really seemed to say: 'Pinkie' loud enough. She sat on the hill, overlooking the town and wondering just how she could make this up to her friends.

"Hmm." She tapped her hoof as she thought, wondering if there was a way to not be as 'Pinkie' as she was. "What if I wasn't as silly, no that just won't do. If only I was as smart as Twilight, then I would have been able to know what to feed plants. What if. . ."

Her Pinkie brain was kicking into action again, and she thought about what Twilight would have fed the tree: something like apple pie? No, that was silly. What _did_ plants eat? Other plants!

Pinkie had a chilling revelation: that plants ate a form of other plants, plants that had died and were all dried up, plants that had been left to sit in bins outside for long periods of time. But then something clicked in her brain, and reminded her that time wasn't something she had had a lot of when she was taking care of the tree. She slumped lower to the ground, really wishing she had the smarts of Twilight, or at least the knowhow of Applejack, so that she wasn't so useless to her friends. Then she remembered something about unicorns that could prove very useful.

Starlight was heading to the Crystal Empire to visit with Sunburst, and all she would have to do is see if those two know anything about smarty spells that made ponies all super-duper smart like Twilight was. Maybe Starlight knew the secret spells that would at the very least make her understand what plants liked to eat the most, or Sunburst. Yeah, all she had to do was go off to the Crystal Empire, maybe when Starlight went, and talk with Sunburst and see what he knew. The more she thought about it, the more the planned formed in her head, and she had realized that Twilight had probably already told Starlight what had happened at the farm, and that Starlight would most likely judger her for what she had done.

So going with the unicorn was out of the question, but Sunburst was still and option, and there should have been a train heading up that way within the day. Problems solved: she could head up to have a surprise visit with Sunburst and Princess Cadance, and see how little Flurry Heart is doing.

Filled with renewed purpose, Pinkie returned to running through town, this time heading directly to Sugarcube Corner. She flew upstairs to her room, grabbing he pink saddlebags and grabbing some bits for the train tickets, and was out the doors before either Cake could ask her what she had been up to. Heading to the train station, she hit the luck jackpot, as the Crystal Empire train was just arriving at the station as well. She rapidly bought her ticket, and leapt onboard before the doors could shut her out.

For yet another time in a very short time frame, Pinkie found herself riding a train far away from Ponyville for one important mission or another without the entirety of her friends. The reminder made her sad for a moment, but then she remembered that this mission was very important for her and her friends, and that it was best if she did this on her own.

She settled in for the long ride to the frozen north, and wondered just what kind of crazy spells Sunburst would have cooking for her. She could possibly become as smart as Twilight, and that would let her read super-duper fast and learn everything there is to know about taking care of apple trees and plants in general. Or, he might be able to cast a fantastic spell that gives her all the knowledge in the world about how plants work, and then she could go home and try to make it up to Applejack by offering to help her by using her new abilities. Only time would tell, but she decided to play the guessing game about what kinds of things Sunburst could do, like what spells he would know. She also liked to think that if he didn't know any, then they would go and be mysterious searches, hunting through the libraries in search of a forgotten spell tome that would help them find whatever it is that they were looking for. Her active imagination was fueled by the desire to see what was possible, which was anything when magic was involved.

As she thought, something nagged the back of her mind, something that seemed strange when compared to the rest of her thoughts. While she wasn't sure what it was exactly, she knew it had to do with the Crystal Empire and either Sunburst or Princess Cadance. It was close to her doozies with her Pinkie Sense, but this was different, not quite the same tail-twitching that she normally had. This was more of a stomach feeling, something off, strange.

As the train ride continued, she mused on what else she could do there while she was visiting, as this was an urgent mission. But Twilight was one of her best friends, basically family, which meant that Shining Armor was basically family, and that meant that Cadance was also basically family. She couldn't say no spending some time with family, but she also didn't want to leave her friends for too long. She figured that she could stop by and sat hello, maybe play with Flurry Heart for a little bit if Shining Armor and Cadance weren't too busy. She smiled at the thought of the little baby Princess-to-be, knowing the feeling of basically being an aunt with the baby Cakes. Twilight was really lucky, wasn't she?

Pinkie dozed at some point, but she was just so excited to finally be getting this done that sleep was difficult for her, still her body needed some rest, and a few minutes of sleep wouldn't hurt. She knew that she had been asleep for less than an hour because the voices told her so, and she listened to the friends in her head.

So she merrily began to walk around the barren train cart, wondering just what she was going to do to make it up to Applejack. Maybe bake her a super huge apology cake, and throw an 'I'm sorry for ruining your best apple tree ever!' party to make things better, or help her by giving her suggestions on how to grow even better apple trees than before. Her time to think was cut short by a train whistle, meaning that she was getting close to the Crystal Empire train station, and through that, closer to her friends and basically family. She jumped merrily, knowing that things were finally going to get fixed, and she would be able to put this behind her by helping Applejack with her apple problem.

When the train had stopped, she had rushed out of the doors and was greeted by a few startled ponies heading out of the Empire, probably to visit relatives down south. She didn't pay them much mind, just ran by them all as she made her way to the heart of the city; the massive Crystal Tower. Home of Shining Armor, Princess Cadance, and little Flurry Heart. She knew that with Sunburst being on royal caretaker duty, she could reliably find him in the palace.

Pinkie began the long, arduous journey from the train station to the heart of the city, trotting along the crystal road, smiling at the various passing ponies, her mood coming back full force as she got near to solving her problems. She trotted along, and with each step, her smile only grew wider and wider, and the sights of the merry crystal ponies only made her more joyful than she had since the tree incident.

As she bounced along, she took in the gloriously shining buildings, all built with the brightest and shiniest of crystal, and her admiration of the city grew ever more.

She had to take a small detour, and the sights had got to her, and even though she had taken a few trips here before, the city was still so full of wonders that she just couldn't help herself. As she made her way along, she stopped and chatted with a few of the more positive inhabitants, each offering brief conversations that only added to the thrill Pinkie was experiencing. These smaller streets away from the central ways had so much life in them that it was invigorating Pinkie to the most. She was jumping along, just enjoying herself as much as she could, absorbing all the sights her poor eyes could handle, when she nearly bumped into this dusty silver unicorn.

"Oops, sorry there, miss. I almost bumped into you." She said as the unicorn turned to face her. Pinkie was met with stunning solid blue eyes that held an immense amount of wisdom and hope, shining in equal parts curiosity and caution. When Pinkie looked away from her eyes, she noticed that the lightly curled charcoal mane had pretty little pink tips to them.

"Well, I'm sure it was just an honest mistake. Maybe you should go get your eyes checked, though, if you aren't able to see a dark unicorn in this lovely place." The unicorn replied, already in the process of turning around, but Pinkie wasn't done talking to this strange unicorn that had interesting eyes and wasn't sparkling like the rest of the city. As the mare was turning to leave, a pink limb entangled itself around her front leg, immobilizing her, though her horn flared a deep violet. "Can I help you?"

"Actually, I am already on my way to see a friend of mine, and a friend of Princess Cadance's, by the name of Sunburst. I'm hoping that he would be able to help me with my problems. Which doesn't include my eyesight, but if he could improve them, that would be great. Anyway, I didn't get your name silly, so how about I go first? My name is Pinkie Pie, though my friends can call me Pinkie. Do you want to be my friend?" The unicorn, if she was going to be honest with herself, had stopped listening after this 'Pinkie Pie' had said that she had a problem. Any opportunity to help another creature and prove that any magic can be used for good, she was willing to take to help.

"Oh, well then. Care to walk with me, perhaps we can meet in my new temporary home. It doesn't have a whole lot in it, but we can talk over tea, and perhaps discuss this problem that you need 'Sunburst' to help you with." She said with a flourish and a bow, making the pink party pony giggle and bounce at the same time. "And my name is Oleander."

Pinkie shook the offered hoof, glad to have already made a friend, and one that was already wanting to have a slumber party _and_ help her with her problems? Wow, Pinkie thought she had just hit the jackpot of a lot of friends, not all of them, because her best friends in the whole wide world were back in Ponyville. But among the best. Pinkie bounced along, earning the amused and worried glances of all the ponies around them as they watched the unexplainable spectacle that was the walking, breathing Pinkie Pie. As the two made their way deeper down the side roads, Oleander became more and more relaxed, something that Pinkie made note of in her brain as when she had the time, she was going to throw this mare a party. Probably the best party she had ever seen, and certainly one worthy of the Pinkie name-brand reputation that the party pony had built up. Eventually the two had come upon the unicorn's humble home, and humble it was.

They walked through the front door, Oleander holding open for Pinkie with her magic as they made their way deeper into the building. The first thing to greet her eyes was a quaint living area that housed a great many books: books on the small coffee table, books stacked on the couch, with a single seating area, books stacked on the floor, books everywhere. Pinkie stopped in the middle of the room to admire what she thought was a collection that would impress Twilight, then all the books began to glow in a strange red aura that she wasn't ready to see, and they began to clear out the area around the couch.

"Back home already?" A voice from out of nowhere surprised Pinkie, though she managed to keep herself from jumping. The pink mare looked to Oleander, who smiled apologetically and she instantly teleported the books into organized stacks around the room, each organized in what Rarity would have called 'Controlled Chaos.'

'Ah, yes. Fred, I met a new friend out there today, and her name-"

"Oh you always did need more of those." The voice, apparently named Fred, cut in with a light chuckle.

"-is Pinkie Pie, and she will be staying over for tea, so if you would be a dear and fetch us some, I would greatly appreciate it." She ignored the comment, choosing instead to offer Pinkie the couch, while she took up a seat on the lone chair across the table.

"As you wish." Fred said, and there came some clanking from the kitchen, indicating that he was already in there boiling the water. This especially confused Pinkie, as it had sounded like he was in the room with them as they were talking, and the voices in her head usually only spoke with her, and had given her their name a long time ago. Oleander must have sensed her confusion, as she smiled warmly, and nodded to a large black and red book resting on the table, all by its lonesome.

"Pinkie, meet Fred, the big demonic-book with scary eyes." Pinkie glanced at the book, immediately finding the book less scary and more fascinating.

"Why is Fred a book?" Was the first thought to come out of Pinkie's mouth, though to be fair, she was still a bit shocked at having a talking book that had a sense of humor. Not even Twilight had one of those, let alone a demonic one. She guessed that Twilight and the other Princesses would have gotten rid of the book immediately, so seeing a simple unicorn with one surprised her just a bit.

"Oh, he was trapped there a long time ago, and we have this little deal going on: he stays in the book, but I get his power and the book to study, and he gets to interact with the outside world. Sometimes he can get a little irritable, but most of the time he is a pretty cool guy, once you get to know him." She explained, and the two fell into some idle conversation until the tea was finished brewing, which then flew out wrapped in Fred's sickly red glow. "And it certainly helps that his inner Brit shines, and he makes some of the best tea I've ever had."

"You think too highly of my creations, Miss Oleander. I merely make what I can with materials provided, and it is not something to brag over." The book resting on the table responded to the praise with indifference in its voice, the two tea cups floating over to the mares sitting down. Sugar soon followed, two cubes going straight into the unicorn's cup, while the tray glowed and stopped in front of Pinkie. "Sugar?"

"Oh, yes please." Pinkie answered, pouring her tea into the bowl of sugar and grabbing it out of Fred's magical grasp. The book-demon was speechless at what had occurred, while Oleander could only stare in surprise at the pink mare downing a whole bowl of sugar in a single drought. Pinkie merrily set the now-empty mug on the table and smiled cheerfully at the gaping unicorn, who had never before witnessed a creature _inhale_ that much sugar like that, and she was slightly afraid of the repercussions.

After some time, Fred had to break the silence, as it was driving him more insane than he already was. "Dear Oleander? Would you mind explaining what it is your sugar-starved friend is here for? A simple friendly visit? Introductions to the greatest being that had ever walked any mortal plane: Moi?"

"Huh? Oh, she was actually here for a visit with her friend Sunburst, but happened to want to explain to us what it was that was troubling her. Perhaps it is something that us, as her new friends would be able to help her with, seeing as how we are indeed, now new friends. Right, Fred?" She stared sternly at the book, though she knew that Fred wouldn't be able to see her, it was the thought that counts, right?

"Yes, friends are great to have, and helping each other is what normal friends do, however, I get the feeling that you are also hoping to follow through with your quest, am I right?" His mischievous voice returned, humor hinting at the edge of his tone, and the book itself seemed to radiate with sly enjoyment.

"So what if I want to further expand upon the magical acceptance threshold, that isn't the priority, just an added benefit of helping others with their needs." Oleander retorted, snorting and taking a sip of her tea as she resumed looking at Pinkie Pie, her small smile giving off every ounce of hope she could muster. "So, what do you say, Pinkie? Would you like me to offer any help that I can?"

"Well. . ." Pinkie tapped a hoof to her chin, considering the option, as she had come here to visit her other friends, and it would seem rude of her to not spend some time with them. But on the other hoof, this did seem like the perfect time to bond with a new friend, and she wasn't one to turn down new friendships. "I suppose I can visit Princess Cadance and Shining Armor on my next visit up. Alright!"

"Excellent!" Oleander beamed, taking a second sip of her tea before leaning back in her chair to get down to business. "Now, tell me what your problem is, and we can see if it is something that I will be able to help with."

And after a short summary of what had happened, Fred happily refilled their tea multiple times, though he grumbled at how low their stock of sugar was getting. Not that he actually ate, being a demonically possessed book and all, but it meant that Oleander would have to go out and get more. The two mares had finished another round of tea, with one happily munching on cookies the hostess had provided, the other staring at Fred with a blank expression, mulling over what she could do to help. Fred had been silent, letting the mares do mare stuff as he thought about Pinkie's proposal, and whether he could help her.

"I dare say that I may have an idea that just might be daft and dandy enough to work, though I haven't tried anything like this in quite some time, I must admit." He finally said after a lengthy pause only filled with the sounds of cookies being mindlessly devoured. Oleander looked to him, hope brimming her eyes as she nodded eagerly to hear his own suggestion: her own having no proper form to take place in.

"Yes?" Both Oleander and Pinkie said in unison, making the book chuckle to himself at their combined enthusiasm. And their excitement only grew as he explained his idea, mingling together parts of both of their respective ideas: Pinkie's augmentations, with the darker sides of magic that Oleander suggested he used. He was exceptional at dark magic, and he supposed there were a few pages in his book dedicated to magical enhancements.

With the go-ahead from Fred, and with an ever excited Pinkie bouncing around, having her hopes and dreams finally happening, Oleander began her studies. Fred opened his black book, complete with the two eyes stacked on top of one another, as if the face only existed on half of the cover, and the runes at the base began to glow a bright red. The book opened of its own accord, testament to the demon living within, and the pages flipped to something that would work for what they needed.

"Expect a slight discomfort during the process, Pinkie, as this spell isn't exactly the most magically advanced." Oleander warned, standing from her prolonged study session, a pacing Pinkie jumping to attention as the former walked over to her. She leaned against the pink party pony, her horn aglow with the magic spell that she learned from Fred, and began the ritual. The room dimmed significantly, and there wasn't a lot of light in the first place, and a creeping chill settled across the mares as the spell began to work. Her back tingling with newfound power, Pinkie had shivers rack her body as the magic began to work in unnatural ways. There was a sudden flash of power from Oleander's horn, and then the spell finished, the room returning to normal, and a slightly weary Pinkie Pie using the unicorn as support before her legs gave way underneath of her. "That didn't hurt too much did it? Oh, come now, let's get you to lay down before you collapse; you look like you are about to pass out."

"I feel like I'm about to pass out." Pinkie muttered before doing just that.

"Fred! You never said it would do that!" Oleander shouted at the book, who could only make apologetic sounds as the mare led the unconscious Pinkie over to her room, gently placing her under the covers, and really hoping that she didn't do anything too bad to the poor mare. Still, a part of her was screaming that sacrifices had to be made in order to progress and understand new forms of magic. She then screamed at that part that sacrifices can't be made if she wanted others to realize that black magic isn't all that bad. The latter of the two one in that argument, and she managed to shut up the voices before they became too bad.

"Here's to hoping that she wakes up just fine. Whatever we did had better be worth it: I have few enough friends in this strange place as it is, and every new one will help. Especially when I need these ponies to understand why I do what I do."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Did it work?" Oleander asked, watching over the waking Pinkie, who had managed to camp through most of the remaining day in the unicorn's bed. The pink party pony rubbered her eyes with a weary hoof, then proceeded to yawn with jaws spread wide before rising from the mattress with poise. The charcoal unicorn stared with eyes brimming full of hope that this spell Fred had insisted would work, would indeed work.

Pinkie stood tall and proud, her eyes briefly dimmed, her face taking on the appearance that she was deep in thought, until she suddenly poofed back to normal. Oleander stared in wonder, but remained silent until her newest friend and example of the positives of dark magic did something, anything.

"It would appear that the spells your dearest demon friend provided you with have been of the utmost usefulness for me. I thank you greatly for all that you have offered to do, Oleander, and I wish you the best of luck in your adventures and quests. Now, if you would kindly excuse me, I have some friends to bring thoughtful discussions to, as I see no more reason for our discourses to continue. May you be ever fortunate in your endeavors, and may the odds be _ever_ in your favor." Pinkie's tone shifted so dramatically to a wizened sage that it shocked the unicorn, having understood that this mare had sounded so cheery, if a little lacking in the intelligence department.

"Wait! Before you leave, would you mind answering a few questions for me, just to try to figure out what it was exactly that this spell has done for you?" The unicorn asked, leaping in front of Pinkie before she could turn and head out of the bedroom. The latter frowned a little, and had to lower her gaze so she could think about it, ultimately nodding in approval and waiting for the question to be asked. "Here are a series of increasing mathematics problems, as well as several logic riddles. . ."

Not a single question had been asked to complete fullness before Pinkie was already providing elaborate answers to the inquiries. When Oleander had run out of questions to test the suddenly brilliant mare on, she had to sit back and record her discoveries, hoping that this would only bring the very best of fortune for her battle against the bias towards black magic.

"Well, this has been quite the cheery day, with a great many utterly brilliant discoveries." Fred offered when the two mares had fallen into silence as Pinkie considered what she was capable of, while Oleander had brought books worth of pages to write on. "However, I am sure that Miss Pie here would like to return to her home so that she could begin reparations with her friends. Allow me to show you the way out, Pinkie Pie. While I do so, would you mind preparing you evening meal, Oleander? I know how your appetite gets during eventful days."

The three did as such, with the demonic book using magical claws to crawl along the floor to the front door, holding it open like a proper gentleman for the proud pink mare to make her exit. Pinkie, much more than simply delighted by her newfound intelligence, couldn't help but try to look as dignified as she could possibly muster as she made her way back to the train station to begin the long ride home. While her friends made their way out of the house, Oleander busied herself with marching to the tiny kitchen and fixing herself a small salad, mind whirring with the possibilities that this opened up for them. With Pinkie being evidence that her spells could help ponies with disabilities, she could finally make a strong case with the Equestrian Princesses, informing them that not all black magics had to be bad. This was opening so many opportunities for her and Fred.

The salad was a bit difficult for her to get down, though she knew that it was just because she had big thoughts and was starting to get anxious. The red and black book housing both dark magic spells and one of the more demonic entities in this world crawled through the doorway and slid across the floor until it got to the table.

"You really needn't worry about this: it will only be a matter of time before the rest see that your intentions are pure. Don't stress which will only be resolved with time." He advised gently as he used his magic to boil some more tea, the scent of lavender and chamomile drifting through the room as silence enveloped the pair of old friends.

"I know, I know. But it's just that with Pinkie going back to Ponyville, I will have no control over her new mental capacities, and thus: she is out of control. A variable that we cannot deal with, so should this end up backfiring, we are going to get in major trouble for this." She heard Fred humming a familiar tune, and she felt the need to release her stress in some manor, but studying wasn't going to be helpful for her.

"Every time I wake." She muttered along to the tune he hummed. "Thoughts leap through my head."

She stepped out of her chair, using her magic to drop her bowl in the small sink, then she grabbed Fred by his spine and spun around with him in a circle as she led him through the tiny kitchen area. "Every wish I've ever made, helps me to take the lead.

"If they tried to understand, if they learned to trust your hand: maybe they'd learn to tread." She sang out as she jumped into the living area of the small apartment, holding onto the dark book as she considered what would happen to the enhanced mare that was now free to share the power and potential that Fred offered the world. Her chance had come: something that she had worked so hard to achieve ever since she had learned about the other styles of magic so long ago! Fred was engulfed in a black aura sprinkled with flecks of red bubbled as he felt the need to encourage his best, and most recent, friend that she was on an honorable path. Not that he cared much in particular.

"You knew how to choose right!" His voice rang out, the change in accent was dramatic, reinforcing that Fred was a being from an area very, very far away from this land of magical talking ponies. There seemed to be a magical effect of his singing, as an echoing voice sounding very similar to his own repeating the final words of each line that floated from his metaphorical maw. "You're getting up tight!" You gotta calm down, loose now! You chose right, up tight, calmed down loose now!

Oleander took the moment to offer her own voice as she sang along the repeated finish to the chorus: "You chose tight, up tight, calmed down loose now!"

Fred floated over to a mountain of books, setting himself so that his half face could look at the unicorn as she did a little jig around the room while the magic of the music ran its course. She did seem to be enjoying herself, as a small smile began to spread across her face as she loosened up.

Fred continued his humming, as being a demon trapped inside a book meant he really didn't have to breath, so inhaling every now and then wouldn't be something that he had to worry about. "Every time I go to talk, something seems to stall. Every time I get anxious, I choke and lose it all."

She used her magic to organize the stacks of books even more than they had been before, what with them placed in an order that only she could understand. She paused as the music sprung inspiration in her mind and heart, and the words that flowed out required no premeditation on her own part. "How come I get so paralyzed? Think I need to just analyze, if only for me to sit and plot."

With a blast of red demon magic, the rest of the books surrounding the mare became engulfed and thrown about the room, organized within half a second as Fred offered the unicorn his services so that she didn't burn herself out.

"You knew how to choose right!" The echoing continued, and was punctuated this time around by some tea mugs flowing out of the kitchen, steaming and full of a lovely liquid that Fred would be more than willing to pretend to be drinking. He would summon some in his little pocket dimension where his true form lay trapped, but he could still offer comfort for his friend by pretending to be enjoying the tea with her right then and there. "You're getting up tight, you gotta calm down, loose now!

"Oh, you knew how to choose right, up tight, clam down loose now!" His chorus was punctuated with Oleander plopping heavily onto her stomach over the entire length of the couch, using her own magic to move her cup of tea over to her lips. She paused for just long enough to get a small drink of her tea before she finished the song, feeling the magic coming to an end real soon.

"Every time I wake: thoughts leap through my head." She was grateful for the companionship the Fred offered, his constant humming helping to fuel the song, keeping her admittedly bad timing in pace enough for the song to not make one's ears begin to bleed whilst spontaneously combusting. "Every wish I've ever made, helps me to take the lead. If they tried to understand, if they learned to trust your hand: maybe they'd learn to tread."

Fred chuckled as his final line would end the song, and he felt the familiar rush of magic as the climax neared, and he would fulfill his strange world's desire for random opera-style music. He used his magic to place the two tea cups on top of several books donning the coffee table as he let the exhaustive events of recent to let Oleander drift gently into the sweet caress of sleep. Still, he wasn't about to let her slide away and leave him awkwardly singing a song he had no real desire to sing in the first place: they were invested in this embarrassment together, and he was not going to finish it alone. His voice raised in volume enough to retain Oleander's attention, and the echo returned full force.

"You knew how to choose right! You're getting up tight, you gotta clam down loose now! Choose right, up tight; calm down loose now!" Oleander sighed as the magic of music faded into silence, leaving her ready for a nap, while Fred fell into his own pondering. The charcoal mare hummed the rhythm of the song that had just finished, doing so more out of subconscious urge than actual desire to.

Finishing her cup of tea, she let her mind relax and allowed the calming tea to do its work and ease the tension in her muscles from an active day. Her horn was aglow with the dark magic granted from the demon in the book, and her now-empty tea cup floated away, levitating off to the kitchen to wait for cleaning in the small kitchen sink.

"While that was fun, perhaps we should further avoid any singing, as it may not be consistent with my image as a terrifying demon." Fred said after a few minutes of blissful silence, which prompted Oleander to begin giggling uncontrollably. Her giggling soon transformed into fits of laughter as she clutched her stomach while making short gasps for breath. Fred would have frowned, had he had an actual face, so he had to express his disappointment and irritation with his voice. "I do not know you find funny, my young pupil, but this is a serious matter. My reputation could be at stake should anybody find out that I may have a side that is not as evil as can be. We need to be careful if you want to engage in any more musical numbers in the future."

"Whatever Fred." The unicorn sighed after she had gotten her laughing under control, rolling from her side to her back so her hooves weren't pressed for space. "We are here for more than just your image - which shouldn't be portrayed as totally evil, remember? – and our top priority is finding as many opportunities to spread the positive sides of dark magic. So if we have to sing every song known to all the races to get a good reputation, then we will sing those songs with as much passion as we can."

"Just go to sleep, maybe the use of magic has made your mind weary and incapable of clear thought." Fred said with a touch of defeat in his voice, using his magic to draw the blinds closed.

Pinkie trotted along the crystal path as she made her way back through the city, having memorized the path through the city already memorized the city layout. Her magically enhanced brain was already thinking through what she was going to do to try to rekindle her friendship with Applejack, while also considering how she could improve her remaining friendships. In truth, she was busy thinking through all the plans that had begun to occur within her mind the moment she was enhanced, and now that she was no longer burdened with a lack of advanced mental capacities, she was free to plan advancements for the Sugarcube Corner, more efficient recipes for the various baked goods they baked at the store. She was even thinking about what she could do to improve customer satisfaction, seeing as how many ponies didn't even really know what they wanted.

Yes, Pinkie was indeed going to be a busy mare over the next few weeks as she fixed the inefficiencies of town.

She boarded the train, not even stopping when she dropped her bits on the counter as she grabbed her ticket from the waiting pony. She never hesitated as she hopped on the train, much to the astonishment of the other passengers, and quickly took a single cart for herself so she could sit in peace.

She used her Pinkie abilities, reaching into her mane and pulling out a piece of paper and a pencil. She tapped her chin with the writing utensil as she thought about what she was going to do to help fix her problems with Applejack. As ideas came to her head, she wrote them down, obtaining a very precise and detailed list of things that she could do, ranging from helping with farm work to improving the efficiency of the farm itself. She had gotten a few dozen ideas written down before she ran out of suggestions for Applejack, but the events of that day meant she would also be in need of pleasing her other friends. The pink mare shrugged to herself, knowing that she had time as the train left the Crystal Empire and began the return trip home.

"Time to begin high-frequency, subconscious, super-processed mental consideration." She muttered as she poured over what she was going to try to do to accomplish the socially accepted form of apologizing and making amends with her friends. A normally long trip from the Crystal nation in the north was made considerably shorter as Pinkie developed a list consisting of ten pages of ideas for her friends, and a great deal of other ideas she had to help Ponyville become both a major economic powerhouse as well as a primary influence on the general culture of Equestria. She had a lot of time on her hooves, so she came up with multiple ways that the town as a whole could be streamlined into the future.

Pinkie found that her new brain was so much more capable of performing advanced thoughts that by the time the train had pulled into Ponyville Station, she had basically written a book for Major Mare about what improvements she thought the town needed first, along with a detailed description of how to achieve those improvements. Things from redesigning the roads to allow the most efficient traffic, to advanced housing blueprints that incorporated fewer resources and insulated far better than their current ones.

Hopping off of the train, she worked her way through the surge of ponies trying to either get on the train, or leaving the station to get to their homes after a prolonged trip out of town. Pinkie made her way out of the station in a very un-Pinkie-like fashion, shouldering her way through the others as she made a beeline for Sweet Apple Acres. She took the fastest route there, short of using her "Pinkie Speed," and steadfastly ignored the grunts of surprise coming from the other inhabitants of Ponyville.

She had gotten to the edge of town, when something caught her enhanced eyesight, and what she saw made her reconsider how she was going to go about helping her friend. She stopped at the front door of the three Flower Ponies' shop, reaching into her mane and grabbing a few bits, replacing them in her hooves with several of the nicer flowers. She also got a plant pot, and dropped the purchase onto her back as she made her way back to the farm, without distractions this time.

"Applejack!" Pinkie called out when she had arrived at the farm, which seemed strangely desolate at the time of day: she had predicted to see at least a single of the Apple's there. But, as her predictions were destined to be true, the mare in question trotted out of the orchard with a relieved smile on her face. "I have been thinking over what happened a couple of days ago, and I have come prepared with some predisposed knowledge of reparations. I brought this plant as an offering of apology, and with the intentions of us being able to put our differences aside for the sake of the powerful magic in friendship."

Applejack didn't pause from her approach, though she did cock a head to the side at the strange verbiage that her pink friend was now employing. "It's alright, there partner. No real harm was done."

"On the contrary, madam Applejack; I'm ashamed to admit that I killed your prized plant out of my own insolence and incompetence. I took a trip up to visit some friends of mine, and I was able to gain a better understanding of what happened that was wrong. I now bring this plant as an offering and example that I am now able to properly help with anything to do with plant life." Pinkie took the plant in hoof but before she could offer it, she was wrapped in a tight hug from the farmer.

"Ah don't blame ya, Pinkie. Ya did yer best, an' that's all ah ever asked from ya. It's okay." Applejack cooed as she pulled her friend in close.

"No; it's not alright. I ruined your prized apple tree, and it was my fault. So I came here with several plans on how I could make it up to you, from learning everything I can about plants to volunteering on the farm whenever you need me to." Pinkie smiled as Applejack pulled away, and then she put the potted plant in the farmer's hoof, with a promise to help. "Though I think the best thing I can do is offer my new intelligence to make this farm as efficient and optimized as possible."

"What did ya have in mind?" Applejack asked, while hesitantly, was filled with satisfaction that Pinkie didn't seem nearly as down and devastated as the girls had thought she would be. Pinkie could only grin manically as she led the orange mare towards the farmhouse to explain what she was going to begin doing to improve the farm to reach its full potential.

"Ah don't know, Pinkie. Those seem a little close to what Flim and Flam had planned for their own farm when they had taken over that one time." Applejack was a little worried about what Pinkie had planned, but the enhanced pony only shook her head, dismissing the concerns thrown her way.

"No, no. Applejack, what those two buffoons wanted to do was tear this place to the ground to suck every bit out of the land. What I have planned will not only make the farm production skyrocket, but it will also increase the productivity of the land. By utilizing special fertilizers and my own unique farming techniques that I designed and pondered on the train ride home, your farm will be perfectly safe." She explained as she walked Applejack through the redesigned apple orchards, coming complete with water features and storage silos spread throughout the massive orchards.

"Well. . ." Applejack started, but was quickly cut off.

"No, don't think about it. Trust your friends on this one, Applejack. I know what I am doing: I've spent hours doing enough mental processing to know that this is for the best, so just sit back and relax, I already have a team of experienced builders coming in to work under my superior supervision." Applejack didn't really like what was going to happen, but she did want to trust her friend, especially now that Pinkie seemed to be handling the whole situation so well. "And while we are here discussing plans for the future, don't you agree that including a few other revolutionary crops will be massive in bringing in the income. I hear there are a few new species of plants that could provide a massive boost to your profits if you sold to the right buyer. Thinking about the future, you should know that apples may very well go out of style in the mainstream markets coming around today."

"Ah don't know Pinkie. . ."

Two days later, and two days full of a very hyperactive, ever vigilant Pinkie watching over the tiniest details coming from the workers who were rearranging the trees in the apple orchards to be placed in the finest, most optimal places possible. The rest of the girls had been ecstatic that their pink friend had returned, and had all welcomed her back with open hooves, though she surprised them all by willingly staying at the farm to oversee the renovations to the farm.

Among the group, Twilight and Rarity had been the most confused, the former at the pink ponies' sudden intelligence spike, while the latter was totally blindsided by Pinkie's lack of desire for a party. That was a big surprise to the entire town, and some ponies would swear that a ripple could be felt across the world, as Cheese Sandwich felt a disturbance in the Force. But Rarity, as per her usual performance, had literally fainted at the discovery that one of the most party-focused ponies in all of existence had refused a welcome-back party.

Pinkie found herself actually working on one of the machines that had been built within the renewed barn, which had been completely overhauled for a much larger, much more useful building. She was currently configuring all the mechanical components to make sure that proper timings had been ensured. She was already covered in grease, and the lab coat she had borrowed from Twilight was absolutely covered in the labors of hard work. She had to call a break as she heard the distinct sound of three sets of hooves marching in from the wide-open doors.

She rolled out from under the large machine, sitting up from her work space to look at the visitors. "Ah, good evening Twilight. How are things going?"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"What is this thing for?" Twilight asked, her eyes ogling at the large machine that Pinkie had been working on. She could only stare in wonder at the large mechanism that the pink earth pony had been constructing, while the other two ponies that had accompanied her cast brief glances at the thing, it being so far above their intelligence, they weren't the slightest interested in its purpose.

"Oh, this little machine here is simply going to be used to process the produce that Applejack and her family harvest, selecting only the finest fruits of their labor and recycling the rest." Pinkie's entire voice had shifted, the tone taking an almost aristocratic air to it, while the mare brushed her coat of the dirt from the barn floor. "Good afternoon, Applejack and Fluttershy, I hope the day has been treating you both well."

"Ah'd say the day's been just fine, Pinkie." Applejack offered a smile, though she pulled her hat down lower over her face as she leaned over to the buttery pegasus. She lowered her voice so that she wouldn't be overheard for what she was concerned about. "Don't know if the same can be said for her."

"Oh, I don't know, Applejack. I think Pinkie knows exactly what she is doing, and I'm sure that she is just fine. Maybe this will be for the best." Fluttershy responded, equally as quiet, while Pinkie went about explaining the intricacies of the new machine.

"Fluttershy, when has Pinkie ever been able to do anythin' with machines like this? Ah know that she can do some pretty weird things, an' that we don't talk 'bout them for whatever reason, but Ah ain't never seen her doin' stuff like this." Applejack replied, casting an uneasy glance at the pink pony who had a smug look on her face as Twilight spewed questions at her about the machine.

"Oh, well. Maybe we don't really talk about her special talents all that much, but I'm sure this is just something that we could get used to, like all the other things about her that we all love and accept." Fluttershy hid behind her mane as she suggested the idea, her primal fears taking over as if sensing a threat through the mere mention of her thoughts.

"Ah hope so. Maybe this isn't all bad." Applejack said with finality, easing the buttery pegasus more than anypony could ever know.

"And how exactly does it process and remove the rotten apples, if the belt feed goes directly into the central compactor and begin the process of cider-fication?" Twilight asked as she studiously absorbed every tiny detail that she could from simply observing the machine as Pinkie started it up. The pink mare momentarily paused pouring gasoline into the tank the answer the question, gently lowering the canister to the ground so she could give the smaller pony Princess a somewhat exhausted smile, as if the constant questions were beginning to wear on her.

"Twilight, dear. Before I answer your question, I must ask that you use proper terminology, as the process is not 'cider-fication' as real cider has a bit more fermentation to it than the sweet drinks the Apple family produces. This machine performs the juicing process that turns whole apples into apple juice, which is the main product of this farm, is it not, Applejack? Oh, don't answer that, of course it is. You don't have anything set up for the fermentation of apples into cider." Pinkie replied as she stepped away from the machine to double check that everything was in working order before she fired it up for its first test run. She had complete confidence that it would work, but one as smart as her was better safe than sorry when dealing with inferior materials produced by unknown sources. Applejack opened her mouth to protest the title of her family's drink, but Pinkie waved her off with a hoof as she nodded to herself and finished filling the tank. "And to finally get to your question; it is a simply process, using presses that apply enough pressure for the rotten apples to be flattened slightly. The shorter width of the apples makes them fall through the grating the apples roll on. The healthy apples keep on going, the small and rotten ones fall into a trash belt, that takes them to a separate container."

"Wow." Twilight could only blink in amazement at the sophistication of Pinkie's new machine.

"Yes, and I have already left instructions for your family in the kitchen, Applejack. If you need to know anything about how this machine works or how to fill the gasoline, or anything of the sort, please refer to the book. It has all the necessary information. Now, if you will excuse me, I must speak with Mayor Mare about a few suggestions I have regarding the improvement of the town."

Pinkie was already gone before any of the three mares could do or say anything to her, with Twilight staring in awe at the machine that was now chugging loudly as it awaited apples to begin work. Fluttershy and Applejack were torn between looking at the machine, at Twilight, who might be able to offer something, and the barn doors that Pinkie had left from. Eventually, Fluttershy bade her farewells as well, leaving the two most stunned ponies to stand in silence, one wondering just what was going on, the other stirring with wonder and awe. Twilight was brought out of her scientific stupor when her farmer friend poked her in the side with a hoof.

The purple pony princess blinked, then turned to her friend with a massive smile on her face, which was met with a concerned frown. "Twilight, Ah need to know; just what exactly is going on here?"

"Um, Applejack." Twilight's smile dropped a little, and she lowered her gaze in thought as she brought the answer from wherever she could. "Well, if I had to give an honest answer, I'm not terribly sure, but my best guess is that Pinkie has become one of the smartest ponies in Ponyville, next to myself of course."

"What does that mean, though?"

"I have no idea, Applejack. No idea whatsoever." Twilight sighed as she looked at the machine before them, the orange mare joining a moment later to ponder over the recent events.

Meanwhile, trotting through town, Pinkie made her way as quickly as she could to the town hall; hoping to catch the Mayor as soon as possible. Of course, she knew that the mare wasn't going to be busy, her memory of what happened in town was excellent before her brain was enhanced, and now she could probably tell anypony where anypony else was in a matter of seconds, without even needing to do a quick search. The ponies of Ponyville were so predictable; not that she was complaining.

"Ah, there you are!" She sighed in relief as she saw the Mayor herself walking out of the main doors of the building, trotting faster to catch her. "Mayor, I'm here to discuss the plans I had to help make this town even better, perhaps we could head inside so we could talk in a more private setting?"

The mare smiled as she saw the resident party planner approach, stopping to cock her head to the side at the request. She knew that Pinkie had a few things she wanted to discuss, but those were scheduled for a later date. Her confused face was all Pinkie needed to see to know what the Mayor was thinking, and as she passed, she explained the situation.

"We have an appointment for tomorrow, but I really think that the sooner I can get these improvements up and started, the better off the town will be." The Mayor's face was still confused, but Pinkie insisted, dragging her by her foreleg as she led her back into the town hall. As Pinkie pulled the Mayor into her office, the few ponies in the building at the time all shared a confused look, but when they realized that it was Pinkie doing the strange behavior, they all shrugged it off and continued on their way.

"Okay, Pinkie. You got me in my office, now what it is exactly that you wanted to talk about? I haven't really had a chance to look through those papers you sent me, but I got the impression that they were going to be some redesigning of the city, and I wanted to know just what you thought needed to be replaced." The Mayor sighed as she settled into her seat while Pinkie reached into one of the many filing cabinets and pulled out the paperwork that she had sent to the Mayor. "Yes those. Since we are already here, might as well go over some of them."

"The first order of business we need to discuss, is fixing the primary methods of transportation within the town, Mayor. While the dirt paths are carefully maintained, and ponies here don't mind the dust, it seems that the other cities around Equestria have all been able to advance into proper pathways a while back. I merely wish to help improve everypony's lives with cobblestone paths, as they have made significant improvements over typical dirt paths." Pinkie explained as she pulled out several sheets of paper that had statistics and charts, as well as various paragraphs of text that the Mayor was not interested in reading.

"Um, Pinkie. If you don't mind me asking: why would we need to perform such a massive task? Our roads are fine the way they are, and not all of Ponyville has dirt pathways, several sections of town already have cobblestone paths. What need would we have to validate such a large construction project?" The Mayor asked with a touch of disbelief in her tone, looking over some of the pictured sheets that Pinkie offered her.

"The statistics say that by having at least cobblestone, which has been evaluated to be the most cost-effective method of road-paving, improves commerce efficiency by 23 percent. On top of that, research has shown that dirt paths increase air pollution and lower air quality by up 33 percent, depending on population density and hoof-traffic." Pinkie explained as she showed the Mayor several charts and pie graphs depicting statistics that the pale ember mare didn't have the qualifications nor interest to digest. "Cobblestone has been shown to be one of the slower paths to install, yes, but it has also been regarded as the cheapest, most durable non-pavement path placement around, and I happen to know a few ponies who would be able to provide a large amount at a very low price. Simply put, Mayor: this is the best way to help commerce in the town grow, while also providing more reasons for ponies to visit, as the cobblestone is regarded widely as small-town enough that Ponyville will still retain the air it has right now. I have crunched a few numbers, and under my professional opinion, this is a no-thought move that should have been made years ago."

"Um. . ." The Mayor tapped a hoof to her chin, feeling uncomfortable by the pressure that Pinkie was exerting, and unsure about the decisions he should make. She did want to do what was best for the entire town, but this seemed a little extreme. Eventually, she sighed, and after trying to look Pinkie in the eye, she relented. In her mind, it was a combination of the numbers that Pinkie seemed to be pulling out of thin air, but mostly the fierce determination that the mare seemed to be giving the world. "Very well, Pinkie. I doubt anypony would be more caring about this town than you and your friends, so I won't doubt your reasoning. I just hope that this is the right move."

"It is Mayor Mare. It is." Pinkie said with a massive smile as she rearranged the papers and began to put them back into the folder.

"Uh, why don't you go about starting to talk to those ponies you know and getting us the stone needed to begin the repaving process. I'll take care of the paperwork and try to get the construction crews ready for a lot of work, maybe we can get started within the week." Pinkie saluted and left, a merry bounce in her step as she made her way out of town, mind whirring with preparations to make this small town the most amazing place in all of Equestria, maybe even the world.

As the day wore on, the stone had been ordered, and she was merely waiting on the materials to begin the massive project, and while she waited, she had a few other ideas in mind. She went to the mechanic's shop to gather materials she would need. She was greeted at the door by a certain brown-maned earth pony, whose name was hard to forget: Pinkie never forgot a name like Doctor Hooves, oh no.

"Ah, top of the morning to you, Pinkie. Is there something that I can help you with?" He asked as Pinkie began trotted rapidly through the clutter of items and inventions that lay around the shop. She ignored him for a moment as she hauled a large bundle of wire onto her back, then turned and went to properly address him.

"Good afternoon, Doctor. I'm sorry to inform you, but I'm going to need to purchase most of you inventory." The Doctor blinked, surprised by the abruptness of the information, and had to take a moment to think it over, while his brain processed what she was saying. "I'm in need of a large quantity of supplies, most of which are here in this store, and you are one of the smarter ponies this town. I'd make what I need, but the time required is something I must admit is in short supply at this moment."

"Okay. . ."

"If you had a wagon, which you happen to keep out back, I'd like to purchase that as well. Here are the bits." She reached into her mane and pulled out a large sack of gold, it clinked loudly on the counter next to the stallion, who was staring at it in mild surprise.

One short trip later, and Pinkie was walking through town with a large wagon full of mechanical devices nopony else had any idea the purpose of. She had one destination in mind, and nothing was going to stop her from getting there. The ponies of Ponyville watched in wonder as she arrived at Sugarcube Corner, beginning her work with the sides of the building. A crowd formed around her as she worked, and word spread relatively quickly, resulting in the majority of Ponyville watching as the new and improved Pinkie engineered a new and improved Sugarcube Corner.

Eventually, word reached Twilight and the rest of the girls, who were busy at the park, enjoying a relaxing day in the sun with a picnic. Of course, Twilight was immediately fascinated, but Fluttershy and Applejack had to share worried glances. The other two were very confused by the different reactions, but decided to form opinions on their own, and the group set out to discover just what Pinkie was doing.

Twilight led the group to the heart of Ponyville, where the crowd prevented them from reaching the renovated Sugarcube Corner, but from what they were able to see from the outskirts of the mob, the place had been completely redesigned. Twilight managed to worm the girls through the crowd, after a considerable amount of effort, and eventually they broke through to the grand entrance.

And a grand entrance it was; the original siding that was made from long-lasting pastries had been replaced with a pleasant looking grey slate that blended into deep spruce siding, the windows were wrapped in candy cane stylized borders. Pinkie stood in front of the door, messing with some wires that ran into the doorframe to the side.

"What is all of this, darling?" Rarity asked as the group of onlookers observed Pinkie insert the wiring into the doorframe, sealing with a glued wood panel. Pinkie finally turned to face her friends when she was certain that she was finished.

"Oh, this is just the brand new entrance into the popular establishment: a proper grand entrance that the Sugarcube Corner deserved, as it was in definite lack of much in the way of civilized accommodations." The girls all gasped in unison, as this was something that they had all expected Rarity to do, not Pinkie of all ponies. "I know why you are all surprised, but I ask that you trust me when I say that I know what I am doing, I have the knowledge of how establishments like this are most successful: and a proper palate of colors and décor are necessary for the success of restaurants."

"Pinkie, where did you even get this knowledge?" Twilight asked, the wonder of seeing such marvelous works of science finally being banished by her worries over what was becoming of her dear friend, whose pride came from her ability to do the wackiest of things to bring joy to the world.

"I had some free time on the trip back to Ponyville from the Crystal Empire, so I did a bit of brainstorming and some light reading from the various books available." Pinkie answered matter-of-factly, which only worried her friends even more. "Besides, with the amount of studying I've been able to do over the past week, I've been able to garner enough knowledge to be labeled as a Doctor. Actually. . . I do like the ring that 'Doctor' has to it. Something to think about later."

"Pinkie, what's with that accent?" Rainbow Dash suddenly burst out, really surprised by what was happening to the pink smart party pony. It was starting to bother most of her friends, not that they were going to let that get in the way of helping a friend in need, but they weren't huge on the changes that Pinkie had gone through. Still, they were holding out hope that this proved to be for the best, as she did seem a lot more capable of handling her own now.

"What is wrong with the way I speak?" She asked, and that was the point that Rarity realized just where she had heard the accent from. Aristocracy in Prance. She'd never forgot the sound that those pompous full-of-themselves ponies used, and she truly didn't want to hear it again, but with Pinkie using it: she just knew that she was going to have problems. "Oh, I see now. I see. Rarity, if I offend you, I sincerely apologize, but this is just how my mouth functions with my massively increased intellect, so I hope you will learn to accept and forgive me in the future." 

"I. . . Of course I'll accept you Pinkie. You're one of my best and dearest friends, how could I not?" Rarity asked, walking up and giving Pinkie a hug, which the pink pony gladly returned.

"Now, for the big reveal!" Pinkie said once her moment with Rarity was over, allowing her friends to step back so that they could see what Pinkie was about to do with the Sugarcube Corner. She stepped to the side and flashed her hoof in front of the door, allowing it to swing open by its own accord, making the crowd gathered around awe in amazement. She then proceeded to show off her proudest feature of the entryway, and stepped into the building, and the noise that followed was neither hers, nor of any pony's from the crowd.

"Welcome." Followed by greetings in six other languages that only a few other ponies could understand. Twilight gaped in complete and utter shock, tainted by surprise, awe and a dash of jealousy. The last emotion she had to rapidly smother before it got out of hoof.

The crowd burst forward like untrained animals, all eager to try out the motioned-controlled greeting that the door now offered. The entire town was abuzz about the changes that Pinkie was intending to bring to the town, and ponies all around were equally anxious and excited. As Pinkie reveled in the praise from the ponies who wanted her to continue to do these things around town, Twilight slowly snuck up so that she could ask Pinkie a few questions.

"I know what you wish to do, Twilight, dear friend. And so, I have prepared a list of the questions that you are going to be prone to asking me over the course of the next six months." Pinkie said as she produced a large scroll that allowed the Princess to see what Pinkie had come up with.

"Wait a minute, Pinkie. How could you even know that I wanted to ask you these questions? It just isn't possible for ponies to read each other's minds. That would be total chaos." Twilight asked incredulously, eyes skimming over the questions and answered written on the page, until her ears fell flat against her head as she read one next question, and the answer that followed. "Of course you would have predicted that question; but what kind of an answer is that?!"

"It would be natural for you, Twilight, to want to know these kinds of things: it is simply in your nature to want to understand the world around you. Remember my Pinkie Sense incident, when you tried to use science to understand that which does not need science? Well, I used your basic mindset and thought about what kind of things about my superior intelligence you would want to know, and proceeded to answer the questions I figured you would be most likely to ask. Since you have made a habit of diving for knowledge, I knew that a lot of questions would have to be answered, so I spent a few minutes coming up with this list in the off time in between my projects." Twilight could only stare at the mare before her with a blank gaze as she tried to process what was being offered, and finding it extremely difficult to do so. After a minute, she gave up, choosing instead, to ask a question that wasn't on the list, which she quickly realized was impossible, though one question glared out at her and she wanted clarification on the answer, right then and there.

"What do you mean when you say you can't say your IQ? That isn't widely known for all ponies, but the more intelligent ones have a basic idea of where they stand, even if they don't trust standardized IQ tests! SO how can you now know that kind of information?"

"What I mean when I say that I don't know, Twilight, is really quite simple: I do not know. I understand that IQ usually has certain limits, and the brain is only capable of handling so much information: so, as it is, I only know that my IQ happens to be so high, that my brain is incapable of using modern technology to determine its exact amount. All I know is that my IQ happens to be well over 300, as there are no current accurate tests that I can use that will go above that, so my intelligence level cannot be quantified with our own technology, and even if it could, I doubt our given speech patterns would be capable of conveying exactly where my intelligence stands." Pinkie offered Twilight an apologetic hug, though the mare seemed a little unnerved by the knowledge that Pinkie was so intelligent, she didn't know how intelligent she was, and that there was no way of knowing how far her brain could go. She turned her gaze back to the list after Pinkie had left, trying to cope with the new knowledge that she was no longer the most gifted brain in Ponyville, and that Pinkie was probably the smartest pony in all of Equestria.

The knowledge scared her. A lot.

After the crowd had lost the general beginning excitement of the changes to Sugarcube Corner, they began to ask around for where Pinkie had gone, but were surprised to see that she had left the party. That came as a deadly blow to the mood for the festivities, and the entire town began to look for her: which came as an even bigger surprise when they finally found her.

Pinkie was stuck in the town hall, pouring over her designs and trying to find out what she was going to rework and improve next. But her deliberations were cut short by the entrance of five of her strongest, most amazing friends in the world, which didn't really bother her, now that she could share her plans with those that she care so deeply about.

"What do ya mean that ya want ta redo the entire town?" Applejack asked, once the girls had been briefed on Pinkie's plans for the town. Her concerns were mirrored in each of the others in the group, and they made it known by all nodding and looking at Pinkie expectantly.

"I just want to help improve the efficiencies of the workplaces in town, to help increase profits for all involved, and to make Ponyville's name even bigger. I want to help this place grown into something that will last forever, because small towns are getting smaller and smaller with each passing year. While the smallest disappear completely, consumed by larger establishments, and I don't want us to all go down like that." Pinkie explained with an air of importance around her.

"Ponyville isn't going to fade, it's far too important for all of Equestria for that to happen!" Rainbow Dash interjected.

"I must concur with Rainbow Dash on this matter, Pinkie, darling." Rarity offered, trying to help ease the mood with her calm demeanor. "While Ponyville may be smaller than other cities in Equestria, is it by no means in danger of fading into obscurity, especially not with being the home of a Princess."

"And the changes you want to bring may have negative consequences for the animals around the town, with all the non-friendly building projects and all that." Fluttershy's voice, normally so soft and quite, was hardened whenever she was concerned over animals, this being an especially concerned situation.

"I appreciate you all voicing your concerns, and I promise they will be addressed. But perhaps it is time that we all call it a day and go home to rest on it. Perhaps the new day after a long nights-sleep will be just what we need to be thinking straight." Pinkie offered a positively charming smile that seemed to win over Rarity and Fluttershy. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were on the verge of passing out, so they agreed with the proposition, which left Twilight to stare at Pinkie with doubt in her mind. But due to her friends' conditions, she was forced to agree and yield the matter for the night.

"Tomorrow morning, we should all meet at the castle, and we can work things out form there." She said with finality in her tone. The other girls eagerly nodded, with the exception of Pinkie, and made their ways to the door to get some much-needed shut-eye.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The following morning, Spike awoke from his slumber with a mighty yawn, before stretching his cramped muscles and crawling out of his bed. Scratching at his scales, he made his way out of his room and tiredly jogged down the halls to the kitchen, hoping to get breakfast ready for the influx of ponies going to be eating this morning.

With the sun barely shining in through the windows, he wound his way into the kitchen, only to be greeted by something that had him greatly surprise; Twilight already being up. Not only was she up and about, but it was clear that she had gotten little, if any, sleep the night before, as her mane was completely frizzled and there were concerning bags under her eyes. She hadn't noticed her number one assistant enter, and as such, was continuing the conversation she was in the middle of.

Spike paused at the door, wondering where Starlight had to be, as there was nopony else in the kitchen area, and nopony else was really in the castle this early as it was. He cast a single sweeping glance around the room, only to find himself and the Princess being the only ones in there. With mild concern, he completely entered the room, his scaled feet making no sounds on the crystal flooring despite his claws, and he silently made his way over to Twilight.

Meanwhile, the mare was busy arguing with herself about the sudden skills that Pinkie had shown. She was absolutely thrilled that another friend of hers could be able to gain such an incredible intelligence, but the fact that Pinkie seemed to be so smart was very unsettling.

"Where could she have possibly gotten that much brain power? It just doesn't make any sense!" She was pulling at her mane, hoping that something would take the stress away.

Starting to get slightly more worried, Spike hurried his way over to the distressed Princess, gently putting a placating hand on her side, letting her know that she was not alone. It had the desired effect, even if it was delayed, as Twilight had frozen solid for a second after contact, but when she glanced over and saw Spike's concerned face, she eased up.

"You okay Twilight?" Spike asked with concern laced in his tone and written all over his face, making the mare's heart melt as she realized how worried he had to be for her. She smiled warmly at him and shifted so she could more easily embrace him in a hug.

"Yeah, Spike. Everything is alright now. Just had to get some of that out of my system, I'm all better now." She answered before pulling away so she could look him in the eye, an embarrassed grin making its way onto her face. "Sorry if I made you worried; you know how I can get when I want to try to understand something, especially whenever that something usually involves anything to do with Pinkie."

"Sure do. Pinkie can be a bit of a brain teaser, but I'm sure that this is just another one of those things that you are going to have to accept as being a 'Pinkie' thing and just let it go. It'll either pass soon, or we will be able to see just how amazing this improvement is for her."

"That is just the thing though; I know that this is the kind of thing that won't pass, and I know that Pinkie is going to utilize this ability for as long as she has it. The problem I am having with it is that I really liked being the smartest pony in Ponyville, and while I really like that Pinkie is super smart, I just don't think that this is the best thing for all of Ponyville. You saw what she did just to Sugarcube Corner, and she said that she had huge plans for the rest of the town!" Twilight explained her worries as Spike nodded and began work on breakfast, knowing that he was going to have to make a lot of pancakes for the group of girls coming over. "I know that it is wrong for me to be so, but I can't help but feel the slightest amounts of jealousy over her, because she seems so incredibly intelligent, and I just don't know what to do about it."

"I know you'll all be able to voice your concerns today Twilight, so just don't worry about it: things will be just fine. They always are, even if they may take a bit of work." Spike did his best to comfort her, knowing that if Twilight continued down this path, she'd tear herself apart trying to find a solution that was best for everypony involved.

The room was filled with silence as Spike had felt he had said all he needed to, and Twilight had returned to pouring over the plans that Pinkie had left inside the castle overnight. After some time, with Spike still manning the stoves and ovens, Starlight meandered her way into the kitchen, guided by the heavenly scent of chocolate pancakes in the morning. She stumbled through the doors, only to be greeted half a second later by a much happier Twilight before she could even blink at the scene before her.

While the former-pupil to the Princess of Friendship was accustomed to seeing said Princess up late studying or researching, the table was absolutely covered in papers she figured would have been properly stored for later. As such, it came as a mild surprise to learn that her good friend had spent the entire night pouring over the pages and sheets and schematics Pinkie had devised.

Sighing with a bemused smile, she made her way to the table, sitting opposite her ex-mentor and using her magic to summon the coffee pot and began making what she was certain more than a few of her friends would be needing for this morning.

Twilight had the table cleared before any other ponies arrived, and Spike had put all the pancakes into the ovens to keep warm before the others could arrive, though the action was hardly needed. Within five minutes of the third party member arriving at the meeting location, the remaining girls poured into the kitchen area at the same time. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy all walked in simultaneously, each bearing no indication of any weariness from a night's rest. Pinkie seemed as enthusiastic as ever since she had returned, now holding an air of more professionalism that seemed to attract Rarity's demeanor. Following right behind them was Applejack, walking in through the doors whilst stifling a yawn, and her appearance was about as expected. Her mane was tied back with her signature red ties, but her hat seemed crooked just enough to prick at Twilight's attention to detail.

Literally crashing through the doors was the final member of the intruding girls, and a very sleepy Rainbow Dash somehow managed to stay airborne as she swung back and forth above the crystalline floor. The first three took careful seats at the table, while Spike grabbed the still hot pancakes from the ovens. As he did so, Applejack took the moment to guide Rainbow Dash to the table, as she had fallen asleep, her wings flapping on autopilot while soft snores came from her drooling maw.

The moment the pegasus' flank hit the chair, she snorted awake, head whipping back and forth while she tried to figure out where she was. "I wasn't sleeping, Miss Spitfire!"

The outburst caught the attention of the other girls, who stared at her in mild confusion while the rainbow-maned pegasus hung her head in bright-cheeked embarrassment. The moment passed, however, once Spike started dishing out his homemade chocolate pancakes, which earned him the gracious praise of Starlight and Rarity, the latter of which made him blush slightly.

The air was tense as the ponies began to eat in silence, each mare, minus Pinkie, waiting for another to start the conversation. None were willing to initiate it, and the only sounds to occupy the room were the clanking of forks on plates.

After several minutes of various ponies glancing at each other and waiting through the tension, Pinkie cleared her throat, tired of her friends not taking the initiative. She knew that they would be worried about this, but she knew that if she helped them to see the truth behind her motivations, then she wouldn't have to deal with this any longer. "I know why most of you are here; with the concerns you have shared with us all. I have come up with several solutions to each of your worries, and it shall be up to you to find one of the suggestions that works, and bring your choice to me."

The pink mare reached into the vibrant white lab coat she wore, pulling out a stack of papers, and offering a small section to each of her friends. Twilight immediately began leafing through her pages, while the rest of the friends were torn between staring at her in surprise or staring at their stacks in confusion. Once they had all finished their breakfasts, however, Spike used the opportunity to escape the tension between them and took the dishes to the sink, clearing himself from the area.

"Um, Pinkie. I understand that with your new intelligence levels, you may find it easier to deal with these kinds of issues by just solving them all ahead of time, but you know that we are your friends, right?" Starlight asked, looking up from her suggestions with concern in her eyes and a worried look upon her brow. "I appreciate your head on attitude, but these are the kinds of things that should be discussed as a group, and we need to find solutions to these problems together. What is the point of even having friends if you're just going to ignore them?"

"I concur with Starlight on this, Pinkie. But girls, after reading through these suggestions, I actually may have to side with Pinkie on one of them." Twilight blurted out before Pinkie even had a chance to offer her response, making the entire group look at her expectantly, though the air was tainted with weariness. Twilight was undoubtedly a trustworthy friend, but she had a habit of making things difficult before they got easier.

"How so?" Fluttershy's voice barely cut above the sound of Spike doing the dishes, and she squeaked in fear when several of the girls briefly turned to face her.

"We can all be in agreement that this transition may not be easy, but it very well may be for the best if we can accept that Pinkie is now the way she is. One of the suggestions she brought up to me is a sort of get together: she wants to spend some time with us one on one to discuss what she can do for our friendships. I think that this is the opportunity we have been looking for to climatize ourselves to Pinkie's new behavior, along with being able to understand just what she is willing to do for us, and what we can do for her."

"Actually, that doesn't sound like that terrible of an idea Twilight." Rarity muttered as she tapped a hoof to her chin, earning her a brief glare from the Princess of Friendship, to which she smiled apologetically. Unfortunately for the Princess, the fashionista wasn't the only one going to take the opportunity to praise her decision to not try to complicate things further.

"Yeah. It seems that you finally have an idea that isn't going to end with us chasing one of our friends half-way across the world to try to fix what was wrong." Rainbow Dash said proudly as she floated above the table and offered to hoof bump Twilight, while the alicorn merely deadpanned at her. Rainbow Dash chuckled to herself as she made her way back to her side of the table, where Applejack was stifling a laugh from coming out. "So, Pinkie, what plans did you have in mind for us spending some chillaxing time together, huh? I imagine that with everything you're capable of, you and Princess Egghead over here-"

"Rainbow!" Twilight tried to interject herself, but the two weren't paying her any mind, causing the her to whine in protest.

"- are going to spend a lot of time together, but that doesn't mean we all don't have something else in common." Rainbow Dash finished by gesturing to the group of ponies all nodding in agreement, a massive grin on her face.

"Correct, Rainbow Dash." Pinkie said, standing from her seat so that she could stretch her legs and prepare for the scheduled day she had already planned for. She nodded to Fluttershy, before looking between the rest of her friends. "I was hoping to be able to spend some time with each of you, maybe try to show you all that the new me is something that will be for the best of everypony."

"What did you have in mind, dear Pinkie?" Rarity asked as she stood from her seat, the other girls following suit immediately after, the group heading out of the kitchen and into the halls of the castle.

"I am planning on starting this endeavor with Fluttershy, but for more information, I ask that you consult Twilight, as she is supposed to be the organizer for our group of friends." Pinkie responded, walking over to the mentioned pegasus, who hid behind her mane at the thought of being the first. Pinkie wrapped a foreleg over the buttery mare to comfort her, but her gaze went between her friends, her mind brimming with ideas over every aspect of their friendship that she was going to improve. If she was going to be honest with herself, she had plans for all of Equestria, because why go small and ignore the potential she has? Start small, working on making Ponyville the best town in the region, improve relations with neighboring locals, expand and conquer. Her vision for the future would put her friends in positions that they would only dare dream of, and they would help her utilize her own skills to make Equestria as a whole a significantly better place.

"So, yeah." Rainbow Dash said as the girls stood just outside the main doors to the castle, them all circling around Pinkie and Fluttershy, whom had walked the whole distance without the former saying another word. "See you all later, then? I got some Wonderbolt training I got to go to, and then I'll probably be napping on a cloud, or I mean doing some very important work making sure those weather ponies are doing their jobs."

Several of the girls laughed at their athletic friend's slip up, but allowed the mare to disappear. Pinkie walked slowly alongside Fluttershy, and the two bade their farewells to Twilight, while Rarity and Applejack waved and left. Fluttershy led Pinkie out of town to her cottage, both welcoming the silence that embraced them the whole trip there. Fluttershy was never one to complain about things being quiet, but even she had to admit that the new Pinkie silence had her a little unnerved, not that that really said much. During the walk, she snuck several glances at the party pony, though she never really saw anything completely unusual; just a mare deep in her thoughts.

Once they arrived at the cottage, and entered the quant little home, they were greeted to the rapid pounding thumping of a particular bunny's paw. Angel say upon the small couch in Fluttershy's living room, arms crossed angrily and an upset pout upon his face.

"Oh, Angel! I didn't realize you would be so upset by me going out to talk to some friends. I hope you aren't angry with me." The meek pegasus begged as she floated over to the spoiled rodent, as Pinkie saw it in her mind. The pink party pony-turned genius glared at the creature, who stared back with defiant eyes, until Fluttershy scooped it up into a big hug. "How about I make you a nice big salad as an apology?"

"Fluttershy, dear. Have you ever considered that maybe your life doesn't need to revolve around your pet, especially just the one?" Pinkie asked as she followed her into the kitchen, causing the bunny to glare ice at her, while Fluttershy delicately placed it on the counter. She turned to Pinkie, eyes wide in shock at the directness of the question, and being unable to use her mouth to come up with a reply. The moment was broken when the bunny grabbed Fluttershy's mane to get her attention, making the mare hurry to begin preparing a meal.

Pinkie stared at the bunny for a solid minute, before deciding on a course of action: she took the bunny in hoof, and turned to leave the kitchen. "Fluttershy, I'm going to take Angel out for a moment to make sure that he is all prepared for his lunch. I shall be back in but a moment."

Once she was out of the kitchen, having not heard the shy mare respond, she threw the bunny onto the couch and produced an item from the depths of her mane. The small hoof-held item looked like a scanner for a store, but when she held it out at the bunny, the creature quickly realized it was not a scanner from the store. He held his tiny white paws in the air, and tried not to move, for Pinkie seemed very threatening right then.

"Sorry, Angel, but I'm afraid I can no longer let you bully my dear friend like this anymore. Goodbye, and no hard feelings, okay?" She used the magic of Equestria hooves to pull the trigger, only to hear a sudden eep from her side, and with lightning reflexes, she turned to see Fluttershy herself leaping in front of the short blue beam firing from the tool. Pinkie tried to act fast enough, but lasers were far faster than she ever hoped to go, and as she raced to catch the beam before it made contact, she saw Fluttershy plant herself in front of the rabbit, closing her eyes shut as she prepared to take the blast head on. "Fluttershy! No!"

The beam slammed directly home, enveloping the buttery pegasus in its icy blue aura, and as particles began to swirl around her, she started to shrink. And then, pop! She was gone, the place that Fluttershy had once stood, now lay empty as air sucked into the Fluttershy-shaped void in space.

"Nonononononono! NO!" Pinkie shouted as she hoped over to the region, diving her face into the carpet to try to find something there. She was desperately hoping that she could find the now-shrunken mare before something bad happened to her. She spun around, careful to look exactly where she was going to step in hopes of not stomping her best friend. Eventually, she had to glance at Angel, who shared her totally perplexed and terrified look, and the two had no idea how to continue.

"Until I can find a way to fix this, I think it will be best if we just stay here and make things seem normal to anypony that comes by. I'm going to need some time to both find her and build something that will bring her back to normal size." She explained to the bunny, who nodded eagerly before standing to hop off. "Angel. I don't like this any more than you do, but we need to work together on this so that nothing bad happens to either Fluttershy or our friends. If anything does, I promise you I will take it out on you: this was never supposed to happen, you were supposed to be the one shrunken down. I was going to teach you a lesson, and now we need to clean this mess up."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Fluttershy exited the kitchen when she heard some concerning dialogue between Angel and Pinkie Pie, and found something she was utterly concerned about. Pinkie was standing before a terrified white bunny rabbit, holding in her hoof some strange contraption that the buttery mare had never seen before.

"Sorry, Angel, but I'm afraid I can no longer let you bully my dear friend like this anymore. Goodbye, and no hard feelings, okay?" Pinkie muttered, then she pulled the trigger, and Fluttershy simply panicked, those words ringed with cold-hearted cunning. The pegasus was fearing for the safety of her best pet friend, and did the only thing that she could think of, and leapt in front of the small beam of energy flying at alarming speeds towards that tiny, terrified bunny.

Using speed that she thought was only reserved for the fastest ponies in Equestria, Fluttershy found herself standing in front of Angel, eyes shut tightly as she braced for whatever fate she was destined for. There was a loud shout as Pinkie did her best to stop the blue beam before it hit, but was just not fast enough, and she had to halt her advance. She watched in horror as the blue beam slammed into the pegasus, enveloping her in its icy blue tendrils, and pulling particles from the smaller planes of existence.

Fluttershy opened her eyes when she didn't feel any immediate sensations, but that changed at the colors exploding before her very eyes. Tiny blue-colored particles seemed to phase in and out of her vision, and she could barely see the world beyond, though just peering through nearly made her want to faint.

She watched as the colors and particles began to accelerate, and then everything became a blur as she felt numbness wash over her. Forcing her eyes shut to avoid the nausea that was coming, she just let the wave of sensations go their course. When she felt safe enough to open her eyes again, she didn't quite feel gone, but things felt very different than what she was expecting.

She glanced around her surroundings, but what caught her attention the most was a large pink wall before her, and what appeared to be a forest of branch-like stalks around her. She was about to take a step forward to look at the wall, but then she looked at how tall it was, and suddenly realized why things weren't quite what she expected: she was looking at a massive version of Pinkie Pie. Seeing the super intelligent Pinkie be about as tall as a mountain, the buttery pegasus fainted, but her unconsciousness only lasted a mere moment, as the world began to shake whilst the pink party pony searched around the ground for her friend.

Frantically looking for somewhere safe to hide, Fluttershy dove into the forest of stalks around her, hoping to evade the stampede of stomping that Pinkie was doing above her. Now that she was hiding behind some cover, also covering herself with her mane for extra measure, she watched as Pinkie shoved her muzzle through the region in an attempt to locate her. She was tempted to try to communicate with the massive mare, but she was still terrified at what had been both about to occur and what had occurred.

So she continued to hide, hoping that she wouldn't be accidentally crushed in her efforts to remain undetected. And after a pulse-pounding minute of waiting for the massive pony to stop looking, Fluttershy was granted peace as she watched Pinkie stand at her full height and turn to where the couch would have stood, or at least where Fluttershy thought the couch would have stood. She sighed in relief, glad to finally have some peace.

Fluttershy figured that she had better try to understand what had happened, so she carefully disentangled herself from the forest around her and took to the air. She quickly discovered that things had only gone from strange to weird, as wherever she was, it appeared that she was in a world where her house was absolutely massive.

Staring at her surroundings, she slowly came to the realization that this was, indeed, her house, just simply that everything was absolutely massive. And that was the point that things began to click in her mind, and she realized why everything seemed so big: things in her house were just as they had been earlier, and the only thing that had changed was her. The world wasn't bigger, she was smaller.

She couldn't resist the urge to squeak in terror, and she nearly locked up and lost control of her ability to fly, just barely managing to stay in control long enough to remain airborne.

Using her tiny wings, the miniature Fluttershy floated into the air, watching as Pinkie tried to calm a freaking out Angel. The sight of the distressed bunny was enough for her protective instincts to kick in, and she felt the irresistible urge to assist her animal friends in any way that she could. So she flew towards the couch, only to be slammed midair by the panicking bunny, who was flailing and jumping around without any control. Fluttershy tumbled around as she soared across the room, slamming harmlessly into the side of her favorite chair, before finally sliding into the seat cushions.

She managed to shake some clarity into her vision just in time to see Pinkie taking Angel upstairs from her cottage. Fluttershy, the ever persistent protector of her animals, never even hesitated to take to the air and hurry after her critter friends.

"Alright, Angel: what did Fluttershy normally do for her animals during this time?" Pinkie asked once she had taken the bunny into Fluttershy's room for a private conversation, so as to not put the entire household into a panic. The bunny, while not happy with his treatment, was so confused by events that had just happened that he was incapable of forming a cohesive response. The delay only made Pinkie sigh in frustration. "Angel, I need your help here! I can gather enough information to pass by right now just by reading whatever books she had lying around, so I don't really need you. Anything you can offer me right now will be that much less that I don't have to learn later."

Angel thought about it for a moment, before taking a deep breath so that he could process what had just happened. The delays only grating on Pinkie's nerves that much more.

"Look, you little rodent!" She snapped, getting his attention immediately. "Fluttershy is just fine: I would have known if I stepped on her, because that machine merely made things it hit shrink. She will be back to normal as soon as I can get this place under control, have found her, and have reversed the settings on this thing. So how about you help me, get the rest of the animals under containment, and then you all can find Fluttershy while I get this stupid ray gun to bring Fluttershy back to normal size?" Angel had a clearly conflicted face, but eventually he gave in and nodded, just in time for Fluttershy to appear from the top of the stairs.

Fluttershy frowned as she watched Pinkie and Angel shake paw and hoof, going off what she was able to understand. She was soon passed, however, and had to watch as the two went back downstairs to deal with her critters, and she could only sigh as she tried to keep up. She had questions for Pinkie about what was going on, but before she could, she had to struggle through the process of catching her.

Knowing that time was of the essence, Fluttershy took to flying as fast as her wings could carry her back down the stairs. When she got down there, she found both Pinkie and Angel sitting at the couch, conversing about what they had to do.

"You can't be serious, Angel: Fluttershy does not give out gifts to each of her animals. That would take far too long, not to mention the sheer amount of resources she would have to burn through in order to make that happen." Pinkie said in disbelief while she skimmed through two books about animal caretaking at once. Angel simply nodded from his seat on the table, going through the small number of books Fluttershy kept at her home in case she needed quick information she didn't already have. He made several squeaks in response to her observation, pointing at a schedule that Fluttershy had on one of her walls. "Well, I'll be. Angel, I don't know how she managed to do it, because one of the fundamental laws of Physics is that matter cannot be created nor destroyed. She does not have time to merely go out and buy stuff, and between her caretaking of the animals here, and her other business; she had no time to make presents either. Where exactly did she fit this all in?"

Angel answered with an absent-minded shrug.

"Oh, dear. Pinkie Pie needs my help." Fluttershy gasped as she made her way closer to the pair. It seems that Angel's large ears assisted him more than usual, as he was able to barely make out her voice, and his entire body went rigid as he tried to make out what he had heard. Fluttershy picked up on this and hurried faster to get to the table. "Angel, can you hear me yet?"

Despite her being notorious for a quiet voice, she put everything she had into that one Fluttershy-yell. It paid off, mostly, and Angel was able to nod vigorously as he turned in the direction of the stairs, a tiny Fluttershy barely coming into focus for him to see as she approached. She came fully into his vision once she landed on the table, and with his ecstatic hopping around, Pinkie was finally able to find her missing friend.

"Fluttershy! I've been looking all over for you!" She gasped as she tossed the books to the side so she could lean closer and peer down at the miniscule pony standing on the coffee table. Angel hopped up to the side of the mare, though whenever he made contact with the table, the surface shook enough to knock Fluttershy's balance off, and with each bounce she struggled to remain upright. "Is it really true that you had to juggle giving gifts to each of the animals?"

"Oh, yeah. I usually try to do gift exchanges as often as possible, but they are only usually about once a month" The buttery pegasus whispered as she felt the sudden pressure, and due to her sudden meekness, Pinkie had to bend down closer to her so that she could hear the mare better. "I don't always do these kinds of things, Pinkie Pie. But I did happen to have a little thing planned for sometime soon involving the animals all getting together and sharing presents with each other, just to show that we are all one big happy family."

"Huh, well: any suggestions on what we should do to get this going? I'd leave you and Angel to do that while I fixed this, but I would imagine that having you tiny while trying to get the job done wouldn't work. On top of that, I need some time to try to figure out how to reverse this." Pinkie tapped her chin with a hoof as she thought about what to do, until an idea sprung to mind, and she ran a quick calculation in her head, crunched numbers literally smoking out of her ears as her brain processed what needed to happen. After a frightening moment of watching Pinkie think, Fluttershy floated her way over to Angel, who looked at her with a horrifying mixture of terror and glee at seeing a miniature pegasus.

She was just beginning to hide behind her mane when suddenly, Pinkie's hoof was wrapped around her and she was pulled to look the party pony in the eye. "I just ran a few calculations in my head, and assuming we have no interruptions, I should be able to manage the animals giving gifts to one another in an hour. Which leaves me with about two hours of time to try to find a solution before anypony decides to come looking for us."

Fluttershy stared blankly at the massive face of Pinkie, unsure about what that meant or what she should even do with the information.

"So all I need from you is to help me and Angel with taking care of the animals, and this whole thing can be done with in a flash, and we can have you back to normal size in no time." She explained as she set Fluttershy back onto the table, taking a seat on the couch as she looked around the room to begin finding a solution, her eyes flashing with glee as she found one after another.

Feeling rather satisfied with the work she had done, Pinkie walked around the gathered animals outside Fluttershy's cottage, the mass of furry, feathery, and scaly animals not making a single sound as she marched.

"So, as you can understand, Fluttershy is in no condition to help you with this big gift exchange, which is why Angel and I will be heading the event. I have managed to work with Fluttershy briefly to go over what needs to be done, and it sounds rather simple: you all should already have found your gifts, as who you are gifting has already been decided ahead of time. All that leaves for the planning of the event is an actual place to hold it and exchange the gifts, which is where I come in." Pinkie explained as she walked around the animals, making sure to establish eye contact with each and every animals at least once to let them know who was in charge. Establishing control of the situation was something she needed to have early on, else everything falls apart quickly.

Assigning the roles for the various animals in gathering blankets, the various pots of tea, and the large baskets of fruits and pies that the animals would eat went by without a hitch. It really seemed that Fluttershy had rode out to the meeting on Pinkie Pie's lab coat-covered back, she blinked, and then things were already finishing for the event to happen.

She watched in awe as Pinkie managed over the laboring animals, helping when they seemed to be straying from what they had all planned for the little gathering. Some of the badgers and other smaller critters had finished their tasks, while Harry hauled the several blankets needed for the event. Before she could blink again, it seemed, the actual exchange of gifts was occurring.

She watched in bliss as her little critters deepened their relationships amongst each other through the power of sharing, and the animals showed their love and care for one another. She fluttered her way above Pinkie to watch, blissfully unaware of a group of ponies encroaching from the other side of the house, and gently fought the growing breeze while her friends and critters all enjoyed the beautiful day.

The sun was shining, the animals were exchanging their gifts, critters were enjoying items they received, then chaos spread as four mares trotted along from around the corner of the house, each calling to Pinkie in surprise. The smaller animals burst from their content areas to flee in wild abandon, the larger ones, like Harry simply stood their idly watching the others flee about. Birds took to the air, flocking above the trees as instinct took over in their desire to feel protected. Pinkie called out to the girls in warning, but the damage was already done, and as the girls began to calm each of the animals around the clearing, Fluttershy tried to control her drifting as the birds in the skies caused drifts carrying her towards the cottage.

Unbeknownst to the other girls; Pinkie had been making her way towards the cottage as well, though for an entirely different reason. The pink mare was using the distraction to her advantage, leaving the scene so she could try to find her dear miniaturized friend once again. That and she really needed some time to recalculate what she needed to do in order to avoid her remaining friends finding out what happened and drawing conclusions.

She slammed the door shut, right as the final animals calmed down outside, and just before Fluttershy drifted in through the open window. Sighing to herself, she breathed deeply, hoping that whatever had just happened would only help in buying her time, which she could only doubt. And as those very thoughts crossed her mind, she heard a pounding at the door.

"Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow Dash called from the outside, along with the worried voices of Rarity and Twilight. "We know you're in there, so just open up and tell us what is going on!"

Pinkie wasn't going to relinquish what control of the situation she had, so she barricaded the door with a chair and was about to leave the small kitchen area when her life got far simpler. Tiny Fluttershy popped into existence right in front of her eyes, worried and scared out of her mind, not to mention a little dazed at what had just happened. "Ah, Fluttershy, come along, we haven't got much time before our friends decide to invite themselves in."

She hurriedly, but gently, grabbed the buttery pegasus in her hoof and carried her along as she fled from the kitchen. She had gotten less than three steps from the entry when there was a crash, followed by Rainbow Dash grunting, and another at the door. "We're coming in Pinkie! This would be so much easier if you just helped us here instead of being all weird and doing whatever it is that you're doing!"

Pinkie picked up her pace as she entered the living area, hoping to find a solution to this before anything escalated out of control. Unfortunately for her, that was exactly what happened, as Rainbow Dash had taken the quick method of entry, and had battered down the door, but Pinkie was running on her gut at that point. All of the other friends; Rarity, Applejack, Twilight, and Fluttershy were all complaining about Rainbow Dash's methods of entry, but then they saw a pink blur as Pinkie made her hasty escape. Fluttershy squealed as loud as she could, being so small and all, as Pinkie carried her along on her wild abandonment of the cottage out the front door and onto the path towards Ponyville.

Of course, being extremely curious and concerned about the situation, Rainbow Dash and Twilight immediately took pursuit, the latter chasing the former, who was chasing Pinkie. Standing in Fluttershy's kitchen with absolutely no clue what was going on, Rarity and Applejack shared utterly confused looks.

Pinkie ran as fast as her legs could carry her, which was fast to begin with, but it seemed that whatever experiment it was that Oleander had done to her also increased her physical capabilities. She barreled along the road, leaping and bounding down the road as she avoided the various things that littered a dirt path, hoping to escape the detection of her friends.

"You know, readers!" Pinkie called as she stared into a point of space that had nothing that Fluttershy could see. "This whole thing could have been avoided if you had just simply warned me that my friends were coming! Maybe next time I'm working on a time sensitive, highly secret project, you'd think about giving me vital information towards keeping it both on time, and a secret!"

"Um, Pinkie Pie? If you don't mind me asking. . . who are you talking to? And why were you looking off into space like that?" Fluttershy asked meekly from her spot in the named mare's hoof, hiding behind her mane as she tried to spy at what it was exactly that Pinkie was talking to. She was still just as perplexed as when it started, and she received no answer from the running pony as the two neared closer and closer to the town.

"I swear: sometimes it's just like you guys are all just sitting there, reading these things like they are some kind of story, or joke. But do you know how hard it is to manage a bunch of animals while trying to think of the quantum mechanics involved in trans dimensional, quazy-molecular interdivision, and having to deal with animals of the likes of Angel?!" Pinkie kept on hollering. "Well yeah I'm hollering, you stupid human! I'm running from the fastest flier in Equestria, holding a miniature pony, all while you are staying up past your bed time, mister! Why haven't you gone to bed already, and given us a break while you were at it?! The nerve of you humans is always the most annoying thing about you guys! It's bad enough that I already have all this to deal with, but then I've got to micromanage you as well, just leave us alone, and get on with your own life already! Now, if you will excuse me, I have got a stubborn pegasus to run away from!"

Fluttershy blinked, refusing to try to process what was going on anymore, as she had stopped really listening after those big science-y words.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Pinkie burst through town like a mad-mare, running through groups of ponies as if they didn't even exist. She held onto Fluttershy with a death grip, though not tight enough to smother the poor pegasus, but her attention was entirely devoted to fleeing from her chasing friends. She leapt over a cart being hauled by a very surprised Big Mac, and the denizens of Ponyville barely had time to step out of the way of the barreling earth pony as she made a beeline towards the center of town.

"Pinkie Pie!" Twilight and Rainbow Das called at the same time, both being the only ones capable of catching up to the speeding mare. "Stop so we can talk about this!"

Unfortunately for them, Pinkie was beyond listening to them, as she was in full blown panic mode, and was not going to pause for anything less than perceived safety. She ground her teeth together while making another large leap over the various obstacles that blocked her path; things such as piles of stones from the construction crews beginning renovations over Ponyville, or carts of hay being hauled around town. Dashing to and fro on the ground, or taking shortcuts by jumping over things, Pinkie noticed that her friends were still gaining on her, and no matter how much effort she put into escape, they always seemed just that much closer to her with each backwards glance. The roads seemed to be getting more and more crowded the more Pinkie ran, the fact only being compounded once she got to regions of the town where workers were laying cobblestone.

Starting to feel the pressure get to her, Pinkie made the best decision she could under desperate circumstances, and set looking for the proper stage to use. Her opportunity came when, as she rounded a corner, she spotted a wagon being hitched to a stallion, just outside of a small two-story building. Lowering her head and steeling her resolve, she charged straight for the wagon, causing the ponies nearby to dash away when they realized she wasn't stopping. Using her momentum, she leapt on top of the wagon loaded full of wooden supplies, and with a mighty hurl, launched herself into the air, through the open window, and found herself inside the building.

"Geez, Twilight, what is the hay is going on to make Pinkie act like this?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she led the Princess around the corner where Pinkie was still taking them along this ridiculous chase of hers. The two were forced to stop when they lost the trail of Pinkie, but the chaos that was these scattered and confused ponies were just enough for them to start again.

The stallion reattaching himself to the wagon simply pointed his hoof in the direction of the window before nodding to the others to continue with their work. Twilight thanked the guy before flapping her wings to become level with the open space, floating off to the side to allow herself and Rainbow Dash room to peek inside. Seeing a lack of the pink mare they were chasing for whatever reason, they nodded to each other and flew into the room, landing gently and glancing around the room.

The room itself was relatively bare; there was a single bed laying off to one side, its only company was a small nightstand that bore the weight of a thin layer of dust. Off on the other side of the room was a pair of doors, one sitting cracked enough to let in the light from deeper into the building, the other sat firmly shut, concealing whatever lay beyond from their peering eyes.

Twilight glanced over uncertainly at Rainbow, who merely shrugged, before quietly trotting over to the closed door. She stopped in front of it, taking a deep breath as she prepared to open it, when the sudden presence of Rainbow behind her made her jump a little, to which she scowled lightly at the rainbow-maned pegasus. Shaking herself from her stupor, she used her magic to slowly turn the handle to the door, and painfully slowly, creaking all the way, se opened the door. Before the door had even gotten half way open, a small burst of yellow shot out from behind, making both girls yelp and leap back.

"Dang it, Fluttershy!" Pinkie called as she pushed the door open fully, only making the pair of fliers jump back in fright even more. She smiled loosely, almost guiltily at the other two, before her eyes focused on the small yellow and pink blur now hiding in Twilight's mane. "Fluttershy, come on out so we can get this all explained, please?"

The yellow blob hesitantly fluttered out of the purple and pink mane, earning a curious glance from both Twilight and Rainbow. Fluttershy shyly landed on Pinkie's outstretched hoof, offering a weak wave towards her friends, who had leaned in with awestruck expressions at the sight of their tiny friend.

"Hi." The single word was barely perceptible, but the smile of Fluttershy's face said enough for the two stunned ponies to speak for itself, and was enough to rouse Rainbow Dash out of her state. The cyan mare leaned around her tiny friend and pointed an accusatory hoof at Pinkie.

"What have you done to Fluttershy?"

Pinkie frowned before moving the named mare onto her shoulder so that she could properly address her friend, though she couldn't help but match the frown on the pegasus' face. Setting her shoulders firmly straight, raising her head and puffing out her chest a little, Pinkie stared Rainbow Dash down, though through sheer stubbornness, neither party moved for what felt like an eternity. Eventually, Pinkie nodded a little and seemed to return to her original state of existence before this entire crisis had blown up. "It was an honest mistake on our parts; I was in the process of explaining my shrinking gun to Angel, when Fluttershy got in the way of the blast, and thus, her current state. I apologize for the rapid departure on my part, but it was simply my wish for me to be able to by enough time to properly adapt to the situation. Given enough time, I would have managed to reverse the effects of my shrink gun, and I would have gotten our dear friend Fluttershy back to normal."

"But why didn't you just tell us that from the beginning, instead of leading us on this chase?" Twilight asked, using her magic to lift Fluttershy off of Pinkie's shoulder and moving her onto the nightstand so she wasn't in danger of slipping.

"You see, it was my intention to have delayed you all long enough for me to find the solution to this problem before any of you knew about what was going on. It was under my assumptions that you would have tried to intervene with my testing of this machine, and then I wouldn't have had the proper field results of how it actually worked. Once you all arrived at Fluttershy's cottage, most unexpectedly, I was forced to improvise, and had there not been as much hoof traffic down the streets, I would have gotten away."

"Pinkie, you may be fast, but I would have been able to chase you down, so you wouldn't have gotten away." Rainbow Dash said as she took a step closer, glaring into Pinkie's blue orbs as if trying to find something there to argue with.

"Dear Rainbow Dash; I have always been one of the few ponies capable of catching and keeping pace with you, but I need you to understand something. I had that speed before my enhancements, and while I have unprecedented levels of intelligence, my brain wasn't the only thing that was improved during my visit to Miss Oleander's home in the Crystal Empire." Pinkie replied in an even tone, though the accent that she was using was making her come across as snobby, almost sneering to her friends. This was only made known to her when Rainbow began to growl and got up in her face.

"Is that so? Sound to me like you are asking for a little competition." The cyan mare said in a forced breath, her jaw clenched about as tight as she was capable of getting it, and the words came out laced with determination. Her eyes squinted as she glared at the pink pony, forcing herself up as close as she could get to Pinkie, a small grin finding its way onto her muzzle as she stared into Pinkie's blue eyes. "But I know that you couldn't even come close to me in any competition."

"Oh please, Rainbow Dash. We both know that you may be the best flier in most of Equestria, but on the ground, there are quite a few ponies who are more than your match." Pinkie said with a sigh, backing away from the intruding pegasus while giving herself some room to smooth out her jacket. She stared evenly at Rainbow Dash, studying her stance, making mental notes on the small specks of confusion and doubt flowing over her face. Seeing that she had already won the mental battle, she decided that once this issue with Fluttershy was resolved, she would spend some time with the second pegasus among their friends. "But if you truly wish for us to enjoy some time together, perhaps I could show you a thing or two about athleticism on the ground."

"What?" Rainbow Dash asked, shaking her head in confusion as she straightened herself and stood proud again, any semblance of doubt she had shown before was replaced with interest.

"Twilight, I know you are the strongest magic user in most of the known Equestria, so perhaps we could combine our intelligence and cast a spell that will bring Fluttershy back to her normal size?" Pinkie asked as she stepped towards the named mare, causing the Princess of Friendship to blink in surprise of being addressed when two of her friends were resolving something between themselves. "I can have this machine set to help Fluttershy return to normal, but I already happen to know of a way to solve this issue with magic. Unfortunately for us, I have no means of using magi, but you do."

"What do you need me to do?" Twilight asked, looking over at the tiny Fluttershy, who could only watch on helplessly on the nightstand.

"Just close your eyes and follow my instructions." Pinkie said in a soothing voice, placing a comforting hoof on Twilight's side as she hesitantly shut her eyes. "Good, now focus you magic towards where Fluttershy is, steady, calm your breathing, turn off your thoughts. Focus, now, imagine Fluttershy as she normally is, full size and all, hold onto that image, focus on making it true. Focus, breath. Good, now; when you are ready, open your eyes and let that image be reality, bring Fluttershy back to normal."

Just as Pinkie had said, Twilight focused her magic, controlled her thoughts, and used what she had always know Fluttershy to be like to power the spell. She was amazed at how Pinkie was able to understand what a unicorn or alicorn had to do in order to cast a spell. She didn't really have time to focus on it, as she had found the necessary power to cast the spell. She unleashed the magic, feeling a surge of power rush through her as she let it go, and as she opened her eyes, she saw Fluttershy being returned to her normal size.

Smiling, Fluttershy dove off the nightstand she rested on, and embraced the Princess in a hug, one that was gladly returned, and eventually compounded when Rainbow Dash joined as well.

Finally breaking away from the hug, Fluttershy tentatively turned to face Pinkie, who bowed her head in apology. The two sat there in awkward silence for a few moments, one being to shy to try to break the mood, the other being unsure for once about what to do in this situation. Fluttershy stood there doing her best to not look at Pinkie, while the advanced mare was completely unable to will herself to look the buttery mare in the eye. The silent standoff was broken when Twilight cleared her throat, catching the attention of all three of the mares in the room.

"Perhaps we can have this conversation outside? We are still in somepony's house, and it would be wrong for us to remain here any longer than absolutely necessary."

Nodding at her suggestion, Rainbow Dash hopped out the window, with Twilight using her magic to teleport Pinkie, Fluttershy, and herself to the ground just outside the building. Sparing a quick glance at their surroundings, she nodded to herself before returning her attention to the two mares that had begun this whole situation to begin with. "Now, Fluttershy; is there something you needed to say to Pinkie?"

"What? Oh. Well, I kind of did have something that I wanted to ask, if that's okay with you, Pinkie? But I think that it can wait until we have this thing between Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie settled, unless you absolutely need me to ask it." Her confession was detailed in the typical Fluttershy manner, with her getting quieter and quieter while she slowly hid behind her mane in her own embarrassment. Twilight and Rainbow Dash frowned at the behavior, their ever-constant efforts to break the mare from this bad habit always being a chore, but it was Pinkie who decided to speak up next.

"Actually, Fluttershy. I'm curious to know what it was that you desired to know, and Rainbow's and mine competition will just have to wait until this is dealt with. Ask away."

"Um, okay?" Fluttershy said, slowly peaking out of her mane and standing a little taller, as if being encouraged to speak her mind gave her a boost in courage. She offered a weak, almost apologetic smile as she looked between the ground and Pinkie, as if still trying to make her mind up about where to begin her simple question. "If you don't mind me asking; why were you trying to shrink Angel in the first place? Had you not been trying to do that, I don't think any of us would be here right now, and we both could be enjoying a nice, relaxing day of watching my animal friends trading presents."

"Oh, I figured you would ask something of the sort, but I would have thought that you knew the answer to that back before I had even tried to do such a thing: I was concerned that you were falling into old behaviors of allowing Angel to walk all over you, and I was worried that he was abusing your kindness." Pinkie answered matter-of-factly, though the tone she used put a surprised look on the buttery mare's face.

"Um. . ." Fluttershy couldn't come up with a response to the genuine answer.

"So I figured that the best way to circumnavigate the problem, and to provide a lesson solution for Angel, was to shrink him and remove him from the equation until he learned a bit of gratitude." Pinkie finished with a shrug, leaning to a side so that she could restraighten her jacket after shifting from the teleportation. Fluttershy blinked at Pinkie, before turning her stunned gaze to Twilight and Rainbow Dash, hoping that one of them could offer her some assistance. They couldn't.

Pinkie waited patiently, hoping that she hadn't said anything too rash, but when the buttery mare returned her gaze to her, she let go of any regret, and met Fluttershy's gaze. She offered a weak smile and kicked at the ground. "I am really sorry about this whole affair, though, Fluttershy. I never intended for it to get this far out of hoof, and I'm going to put some procedures in place that should prevent events like this from happening in the future."

"It's in the past, Pinkie. I think we should just move on and continue with our lives." Fluttershy said as she wrapped Pinkie in a hug, who was more than grateful to return the act whole-heartedly.

"Great! Now that we got this thing out of the way, Pinkie and I have a little dispute to settle, and I'd like it if we were all there to watch me prove that I am still the fastest pony in all of Equestria, So, let's get a move on!" Rainbow Dash added enthusiastically as she hovered in the air, pushing Twilight away from the building, while she motioned for the other two to follow her. Pinkie looked at Fluttershy, who shook her head exasperatedly, and the pair followed slowly after the rushing mare, glad to have their friendship repaired. "Come on, Twilight! We gotta get out of town so I can show Pinkie who is the fastest pony in Ponyville!"

The four made their way back towards Fluttershy's cottage, running into the other girls as they left the town boundary behind them.

"What in tarnation is going on there, sugarcube?" Applejack asked as Rainbow Dash hurriedly pulled Twilight along, though she received no answer from the rushing fliers. She turned and frowned at Fluttershy, who smiled and stopped to explain the situation as Pinkie nodded and continued on her way following Rainbow.

Pinkie decided that showing her athletic friend that this was going to be a real competition was a good idea, so she trotted along a bit faster, catching up to the Princess and the Wonderbolt before they had even gotten off the road. "So, Rainbow Dash. I was thinking, first thing we could do is have a bit of a hoof race, and in theme with the gift giving Fluttershy had her animals doing; I was thinking that we could deliver some gift cards to the hospital, to show the injured ponies that we care. What do you think?"

"I think that that is a wonderful idea, Pinkie." Twilight answered for Rainbow Dash, though the cyan mare did nod her own agreement to the idea, stretching her legs for the run she was confident she was going to win. "But we will need gift cards for that, wouldn't we Pinkie? If I had a moment, I'm sure that I could make some nice cards that could cover the ponies that I know are there."

"No need, dear Twilight." Pinkie replied with a cheeky grin, and she reached a hoof into her mane, pulling out a stack of small envelopes, each bound with strips of ribbon and decorated with lovely patterns. "I had already figured that Rainbow would want to try something athletic, so I took not of the ponies that would most likely be in the hospital today with this very same incident in mind. I always come to these things prepare, Twilight. Rainbow Dash; take half of these, I'll take the other. First one there to deliver the cards and get back here wins the first race."

"But what if there aren't as many ponies there as cards, and I can't give them all out?" She asked as she grabbed half the stack within her muzzle.

"Don't worry about that, I ran the numbers this morning, and I am positively certain that this will cover most of the doors, but not all of them." Pinkie said with a smile as she shoved the remaining cards back inside her mane, before walking around the athletic pegasus and started stretching her legs for the run.

"Would you kindly wait but a moment, dears" Rarity called as she trotted to where the three of them stood at the side of the road just outside of Fluttershy's cottage. She looked between the competitors with confusion written all over her face. "But just what exactly has been happening over the last couple of hours? I feel like a bit of information is really been withheld from Applejack and I."

"I'll explain once these two get going, as it should take them some time for the race." Twilight offered as she used her magic to pull the fashionista over to the side, of the street and out of the way of the racers preparing to do the deed. She looked over the pair of mares who were ready to start, with Rainbow Dash bouncing on her hoof-tips and rolling her shoulders to race. Pinkie was taking a much more sedated approach, crouching low and taking a starting position to the race. Her eyes were focused on the empty stretch of road in front of them, a barely noticeable smile spread across her lips. "Ready? Get set: Go!"

Summoning a small flag, Twilight gripped it in her magic and waved it across the street in front of them, signaling the start of the competition. Before the flag had a chance to do anything else, both mares had launched from their starting positions, a burst of noise and a cloud of dust the only evidence they were there at all.

Pinkie took the lead almost immediately, her smile only growing the further and further they made their way towards town. She slowly pulled in front of Rainbow, pumping her legs faster and faster as she gracefully distanced herself from the Wonderbolt. Wings gave Rainbow Dash a slight advantage in the air, but with her new advancements, Pinkie was confident she was far superior on the ground.

The two broke into town at breakneck speeds, but Pinkie was clearly in the lead, and it seemed that she hadn't even raised her heartrate yet, while Rainbow Dash clearly looked displeased with the current results of the race.

As the hospital came into sight, Pinkie began to slow down, wanting to make a seamless transition to trotting inside the doors to the building. Rainbow Dash, on the other hood, seemed to want to make a harsher transition, and barreled in front of Pinkie, closing the distance to the hospital faster than Pinkie. They both knew what they were doing, and while Pinkie did, indeed, make a flawless slid into trotting through the doors, Rainbow Dash had to power slide to the steps before jumping into the air and flaring her wings to slow down before entering. Despite her difficulties, the two entered the building at the same time, with Pinkie reaching up and grabbing her bundle of cards while merrily trotting down her side of the building, humming to herself as she made her way down the halls. Rainbow Dash stopped to gasp for breath from around her own bundle shoved carelessly into her mouth, before snapping to attention and bolting down her side of the hospital.

Pinkie happily stopped at each door and carefully handed each pony inside her card, taking her time as she made her way through the halls. She smiled and waved at each pony, greeting them all by name but not really sparing any time to talk, explaining in quick exchanges what she was doing before moving on to the next room. She had made her way through her small bundle of cards very quickly, and began to trot back to the entrance carelessly, knowing that the pressure Rainbow Dash was feeling would put the pegasus at a disadvantage. She got to the entrance just in time to see said pegasus struggling to dish out her last few cards by the end of the hallway. She smiled and waved at Rainbow before trotting out the doors and onto the bright street that was freshly paved in cobblestone. She inhaled deeply, enjoying the scent of a bright day, before waiting for the telltale sign that Rainbow was about to exit.

Rainbow Dash couldn't believe it: she had been doing her best to stay ahead of Pinkie, but that darn pony was so fast! She hurried through the halls of the hospital, hoping to get this done with before the pink party pony, barely acknowledging any of the ponies she threw her cards at, too busy focused on getting the job done. She had, like, four or five cards left, and she could literally see the exit right there, when all of a sudden Pinkie happily trotted into view. She _trotted_ into view, as if this was some slow-paced visit, and not a race. Then she had the audacity to wave at Rainbow, like this wasn't even a competition.

Rainbow Dash was panicking at this point, because not only was Pinkie capable of running just as fast as her, maybe even faster, but now she had a small lead that was sure to snowball. Rainbow Dash growled in frustration, and threw the remaining cards at the doors. Each card whipping into the rooms followed by the sound of ponies being startled by the sudden intrusion. Snorting with as much force as she could, she reared onto her hind legs, then launched herself forward, galloping out of the halls and into the reception desk, throwing herself over the poor worker and towards the door. Just outside the glass, she could see Pinkie waiting on her.

Pinkie was _waiting_ on her, standing there like this was some kind of joke, mocking Rainbow for being so slow. Her pulse pounding faster and faster, the pegasus forced her legs to go as fast as they could, and she crashed through the doors, nearly flying as her wings shook the shattered glass from her slender frame. Whipping her head to the side to free her gaze, she saw that Pinkie was once again leading her to the next destination, only this time; Rainbow wasn't going to let herself be beaten in a hoof race.

Growling to herself, Rainbow pushed her legs to run faster than they ever have before, and with her heart pounding into her temples, she felt the ground flying underneath her as she raced on. Pinkie was nothing but a blur in her vision as she focused entirely on the road in front of her, and that stupid pink pony just a tails-length away. A tails-length winning.

Pinkie smiled as she glanced back at Rainbow Dash, who was obviously putting her very soul into this race, and that she was putting up a good fight. Still, Pinkie could clearly see the strain on Rainbow Dash's face, the strain of a pony who was reaching their limit, and one that meant that she was more likely to give in to exhaustion only once the adrenaline wore off. For a moment, Pinkie considered slowing down and helping her tired friend, but then she remembered that she was also testing her own physical abilities here, and se restrained her desire to hold back.

Putting in a little extra effort as the town faded behind her, Pinkie forced her legs to push her further along Fluttershy's cottage came into view, and that was when she realized that she was going fast enough that Rainbow Dash would have undoubtedly seen that Pinkie was the victor. She saw the cottage and she slammed her hooves into the ground, hoping to slow herself before she went too far, only she didn't know exactly how fast she was going, and as she drug herself into the ground as she tried to stop, the cottage came and went in a cloud of smoke. Until she finally came to a stop, within a large track of grooves in the dirt road from where she applied the brakes, only to dig through until she had gone well passed the finish line.

Wiping a hoof in front of her muzzle, she waited for the dust to clear.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Rainbow Dash slid passed where her friends were standing, the cloud of dust surrounding them was the perfect indicator that she had lost. And she had lost badly: Pinkie was miles ahead of her, and that race wasn't even a real competition. She stopped at the edge of her group of friends, the other girls looking just as dumbfounded as she did, as none of them had expected Pinkie to beat Rainbow that badly.

She stared in stunned silence as the dust settled, and Pinkie trotted the lengthy distance back to the group, careful to not trip in the burrows she had dug in the path during her emergency braking. The Wonderbolt just couldn't believe it: she had lost in a fair race to Pinkie. She had lost!

Gritting her teeth in irritation, Rainbow Dash could not let this instance taint her reputation, and she couldn't allow something like this simply become reality. She had an image to uphold, and a legacy to maintain, and with that at the forefront of her thoughts, she marched to where her other friends were equally as stupefied by the turn of events. Pinkie Pie was chatting to a confused but impressed Applejack, until Rainbow Dash just marched right through her friends and stood face to face with the victor.

"What was that?" Rainbow questioned in a hushed, irritated voice, interrupting Pinkie's and Applejack's conversation.

"What do you mean, Rainbow Dash? The race, the ending of the race, or the unfortunate tracks I dug into the ground?" Pinkie offered her own question in response, though the only answer she got was a frustrated growl from Rainbow and the cyan mare walking in a small circle as she tried to get her temper under control. "The race itself was simple, as you are aware; just go to the hospital, deliver a number of cards then return here before the other. The ending would come as a surprise to just about anypony of your intelligence level, as most ponies would assume that the fastest flier in Equestria would have fared better against a seemingly average earth pony such as myself. What you have not taken into consideration, Rainbow Dash; is that I have had the opportunity to improve myself to a heightened level of existence, and now am more than your equal on the ground. Of course, I always had speed on my hooves, but now I think I could enter any hoof race in Equestria and certainly return the victor.

"In short; the ending was a surprise for most of you, but remember that I had Oleander back in the Crystal Empire assist me in becoming the best, smartest pony in Equestria. You were no doubt disturbed and perhaps mortified by the outcome of this race, but I have calculated the odds of success, and there was a measly 0.01% chance that you would emerge victorious, but even that was accounting the random aspect of daily life from the other denizens of Ponyville." Pinkie paused in her explanation, a thoughtful hoof being applied to her chin with gentle strokes of thought as she pondered a new thought that entered her mind. A thought that she was certain should have entered her head days earlier; alas, she had lacked it then, but she had it in her head now. "Perhaps I need to speak with the Mayor about changing the name to something far more suited to the state of this established community once all the changes are being settled. Whatever the outcome may be, I am more than certain that I will have ample time to consider this at a later date."

"No. Nononononono. No!" Rainbow Dash shouted, suddenly leaping back to face Pinkie, her face and mind set upon a decision. "You and me have to do another competition; something else that isn't necessarily just a hoof race. I won't let you just steal this win from me. Come on, Pinkie; you don't have anything to lose from another competition, so let's just do something else so I can prove I'm still as awesome as before."

"Rainbow Dash, you know that we don't think any less of you for taking a loss. Don't let something like this get the best of you, you are stronger than this, after everything we have been through. Please" Twilight said as she stepped forward to intervene before this got out of control.

Unfortunately, Rainbow wasn't going to have anything like that, and she was dead set on getting Pinkie to agree to another competition.

Pinkie simply sighed and looked at Rainbow Dash in a nearly sympathetic look, and although she was able to run the numbers in her head she just knew that her athletic friend was too proud to allow her image to take a hit like this unchallenged.

Then, in a rather unexpected turn of events, Rarity took the initiative by stepping forwards and separating the two. She smiled once she had captured both of her friends' attentions, and gently turned them so they stood side by side, Pinkie covered in the dust from earlier while Rainbow Dash disturbed the fashionista's nose with her workout sweat.

"Girls, I happen to know of just the way to settle a number of our problems and desires all at once. Pinkie, is it still true that you want to spend some time with me to help me understand why these improvements are worth your time?" She spoke very calmly, and her happiness grew as she watched the soothing ease that overtook both of the racers' features at her calm approach. When the pink arty pony nodded her agreement, she smiled gratefully and looked to the Wonderbolt, who hesitated slightly before looking at her expectantly. "Good, because I have an idea that could solve both of your problems at once, and it is this: Rainbow Dash, you want another competition to prove, for some ludicrous reason, that you are still the 'real deal' or something of the sort."

"Hey! You know how important it is for everypony to know how serious of a competitor I need to be! This is basically all I am known for: so I can't just go around letting others think that they can always beat me!" Rainbow Dash put in her best effort to interject.

"Rainbow, not everything in life has to be a competition!" Twilight called from the back, next to Applejack and Fluttershy. Rarity huffed, but let them continue, despite having her point interrupted. "We went over this like years ago, several times, might I add!"

"Pinkie Pie: you and I simply must get together and see what that super mind of yours is capable of creating. And to appease this desire of yours for a competition, Rainbow Dash, I propose this to you both: I have been working on some new designs for my boutiques, but the shipments for materials just haven't been arriving fast enough to maintain production. If you were to both travel to the fabric supply depot and gather a few bundles of dyed cloth. We could see which of you has the best quality and quantity of cloth for my new designs." Rarity said as she led the group back towards town, her idea springing more and more complex ideas as she imagined just what she could do to help both of her friends.

"Uh, not to be a downer, Rarity; but neither Pinkie or I are really into fashion design. Sure we might be able to get cloth, but I doubt either of us would be able to get what you would consider 'high quality' fabric or whatever." Rainbow mentioned as the group of girls entered the town limits.

"Nonsense, my dear. You simply need to find fine fabric, which is simply materials that can withhold the stress of stretching but also feel smooth to the touch, and have a high stitch count. Easy as apple pie, am I right, Applejack?" Rarity turned to the farmer with a massive grin on her face, though the orange mare smiled nervously while nodding with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm. Nopony really knew what to do when dealing with fashion stuff like Rarity, so it was best to just agree with her and move on. "As it is, I'm sure that you will both do absolutely fine. Anyways, as I was about to continue, after you both have arrived back at my Boutique, I was hoping to have you both grab a design or two from my stock and try it out. The pony who creates the best dress, be it through perfect replication or flawless improvisation, shall be declared the winner. So, do you both agree that this would be a suitable replacement for the earlier competition?"

"If Rainbow Dash truly desires another attempt at besting me in friendly competition, then do I really have a right to try to help her feel successful? I accept." Pinkie said with a definitive nod before turning to look at Rainbow expectantly. The cyan pegasus stared into the clouds for a moment, contemplating her odds of success, though the numbers appearing in her head made absolutely no sense to her, so she gave up and nodded.

"I guess it would be a decent enough competition, though it seems really strange." Rainbow muttered, her brow furrowing as she thought about it a little harder. It wouldn't be the first time either of them had to make dresses for Rarity, though this time it would be under better circumstances and they would have a solid reason for trying new things. Rainbow did always want to try to get along with Rarity better, even if it meant doing things she may not enjoy the most. Still, competition was competition, and Rainbow was never going to back away, not with the stakes that were on the table.

"Excellent!" Rarity cheered as she opened the door to her Boutique with her magic, allowing her friends to enter the carousel-like building first. Once she had entered the building, she led her friends up the stairs to her work room, allowing the non-contestants to get settled in the various seats that she had set up around the place. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie stood nearly at attention in the middle of the room, waiting on her to get ready, though she stopped at the doorway to think something over. "Aha!"

Using her magic, she grabbed several sheets of designs, levitating them in front of the two competitors, then proceeded to explain to them to take a sheet or two for reference as they shopped. She let them take their picks, then replaced the designs with two identical bags of bits, allowing them to prepare for the intense race they were about to have. "This should cover the expenses, but don't feel pressures to spend it all, if you have any left over, purchase whatever else you think you might want to have for this."

The pegasus and earth pony simply nodded to her and settled into stances to begin the race, Rainbow aiming to use her wings as an advantage to get out the window before Pinkie could take the stairs to exit. A green flag appeared in Rarity's hoof, a gift from Twilight for the race, and the fashionista raised it into the air, giving both contenders a chance to settle finally. Once she knew that she had their attention, she smiled, before dropping the flag quickly, signaling the beginning of the race.

Rainbow Dash burst out the open window in a rainbow-trailed blur, soaring straight to the markets, while Pinkie disappeared behind a pink trail out the room and down the stairs.

"And now, girls; we wait for them to get whatever materials they want for their dress designs, and then the fun begins. Twilight, would you kindly pass me that book on my nightstand, please?" Rarity concluded as she trotted over to the desk where most of her in-progress designs were placed. She used her magic to tidy up the working stations so that Rainbow and Pinkie could actually work, because not all ponies are capable of working in organized chaos.

In a heartbeat, she had her current novel, from a smaller author that she hadn't heard much of, but who was rather creative with their mystery detective stories. She was glad to admit that this book she was burrowing through was quite the adventure for her, and she absolutely adored how it was progressing. She smiled as she settled into a seat to begin reading to pass the time, when a loud band caught her attention. She spared a quick glance up to check what had caused the noise, only to see a pink pony hauling a wagon of things. "Oh, hello there Pinkie. I trust your trip was a success."

She opened her book to start reading when the sound of Fluttershy fainting on the floor got her to look over to where both Applejack and Twilight were staring dumbfounded at the sudden arrival of their pink friend. Then Rarity's brain finally caught up to the situation at hoof, and her eyes snapped to the present pony who was busy constructing was looked like a large metallic box. She had to blink several times to make sure that she wasn't hallucinating, but it was all for naught; Pinkie really was there, and she not only had a stack of various fabrics, but she had time to toss aside her preparations for a proper work space in desire to work on this machine she was building. The book she had been holding onto only seconds ago dropped from her magic grip as she shot up and trotted over to the wagon of fabrics, and she pulled them out, doing the one thing that she was certain wouldn't make her start screaming in utter terror. She examined the fabrics, and she was put-off to admit that they were of exceptional quality, and upon discovering that piece of information, she had to drop it and slowly walk back to her seat. She stared blankly at the wall while Pinkie labored on her idle project, waiting for something to come along and take her mind off the numbing realization that Pinkie had just done something that not even Normal Pinkie would have done.

Yes, Pinkie was fast, but never had she been _that_ fast with materials she couldn't have prepared for.

"I should agree that under normal circumstances, I would not have been able to get these difficult supplies under such short notice, but thanks to my enhancements, I am now capable of much greater things." Pinkie said over her shoulder as she continued to screw bolts and components, seemingly hearing Rarity's internal dilemma. Pausing for just a moment, Pinkie flashed a brief smile towards the fashionista to offer some support, though she knew that Rarity wouldn't really be in the headspace to register what had happened, and was simply running on autopilot right then.

"And I'm back with time to. . ." Rainbow Dash declared triumphantly as she flew in through the window again, this time burdened with saddlebags brimming with clothing supplies. Her massive grin wore off very quickly, however, once she saw that Pinkie had not only beaten her to the destination once again, but was already busy laboring over some weird machine project in the downtime. Her jaw hit the floor when she floated to the ground next to Rarity and the others and saw that Pinkie had already had her entire purchase set out, with bundles and bundles of very fine cloth at the ready.

"That's it! I'm done!" Rainbow Dash said with a guttural growl, and as she id so, she spun on her hooves and dropped her saddlebags full of supplies on the ground, flaring her wings and soaring out the window. As she sailed into the distance, the girls could hear the Wonderbolt shout a final parting declaration: "I'm sick of this horse-hay losing stuff!"

Fluttershy had awoken to the sounds of the distressed Rainbow Dash shouting, but looked to her friends in utter confusion when she didn't even see the mare in question. Her confusion only grew larger and larger as she saw her friends were equally confused, but then she saw the massive machine that Pinkie was finally getting up and running. In the brief seconds that she had been unconscious, it felt like she had missed an hour or two of progress.

The girls looked between themselves as they tried to figure out just what was happening, but none were able to voice any of the ideas that weren't even floating in any of their heads right then. Rarity turned to Twilight for advice, but the Princess could only stare in stunned silence while Applejack and Fluttershy looked to each other for advice. Pinkie labored onwards, her ideas so close to coming to fruition, though she did take not of the sudden appearance and absence of Rainbow Dash.

Just as soon as the girls began to vocalize their concerns over what had happened to their friend, consisting of lots of sudden bursts of words before politeness intervened and prevented them from interrupting each other, Pinkie stopped working on the machine. "Girls!"

They all froze and turned to Pinkie, shocked by the sage of her raised voice, staring at her patiently waiting for her to continue with whatever it was she was doing.

"Rainbow Dash will be back in three, two . . ." And before she finished her countdown, they all heard grumbling coming from just outside the room, down the stairs. Rainbow Dash walked in, grumbling to herself about not letting herself lose a challenge, and the four onlookers stared in wonder and a touch of happiness as Pinkie had predicted the exact moment that Rainbow Dash would return.

"Sorry about that outburst. I just lost control for a moment there." The cyan mare explained as she walked over and picked up her saddlebags of supplies. "Can we just get this thing over with so I can win?"

The return of their confident friend was more than enough to stir the girls into action, and they all hopped to their hooves to begin preparations for the next event.

"Ah yes, let us continue this venture after I have checked the quality of your fabric, Rainbow." Rarity explained as her magic grabbed the various rolls of cloth, her critical eye scanning over the materials while she fought against herself to prevent drooling. "Very good Rainbow Dash, this is excellent quality!"

"Only the best from the best. Let's get started then!" She returned with a grin as she walked over to the sowing machine and took her seat, that was, until she noticed the Pinkie had still yet to say a word. "Uh, Pinkie. What is that?"

At first, Pinkie didn't respond, as she was putting the finishing touches on her machine, but the moment she was finished, she patted it as if it were a new prized tool ready to begin the work. "This wonderful new machine will allow me to produce the highest quality dresses in not only half the time, but will also save me at least a seventh of the resources."

Then, with a yank of the lever on the side, Pinkie brought the machine to life, and the engines powering it purred as they ran for the first time. The others jumped back in surprise, but once they saw that Pinkie was standing near it unharmed, they ventured closer. To better demonstrate what the machine was capable of, Pinkie requested that they start the next part of their competition, so she could use it to prove that it will revolutionize clothing design.

With Rainbow Dash's consent, they rushed right into the next phase, allowing Pinkie to prove how her machine was far superior to hoof-making clothes. Before five minutes had passed, with Rainbow tirelessly sowing and pumping clothing into her first dress, Pinkie had hers finished.

And once again, the crowd was left speechless, as to the rest of the girls, this dress looked identical to the ones that a pony would find to be made by the highest quality clothing brands. Rarity was expectantly doubtful about its legitimacy, and begun immediate scrutinization of how the dress looked, felt, and stretched. While Rarity toiled, Rainbow Dash sat at her seat, the dress she had hardly even started was completely forgotten as she lost all hope of being able to compete with a machine like this. Nopony could ever even hope to create a low quality dress in five minutes, you couldn't really throw together a decent outfit in that time with the way that Rarity makes them. And to have a machine that can create a dress in that time? Rainbow Dash was finally done, finding out how fast Pinkie was had put her pretty close to completely giving up, but this sealed that decision. Rainbow just had no chance against Pinkie.

"So you see; this new machine will be able to allow you to rest your hooves and attend many more parties with the wealthy, as they will create the dresses for you. You won't even have to worry about designing new styles, as the machine works on an advanced algorithm I set into the hardware of it, allowing it to design and produce anything to your heart's content." Rainbow Dash started to listen to what the others were talking about, her head was so focused on the crushing defeat she had just suffered. Now that this was happening, she had no real reason to stay here, as anything she could do, Pinkie could either do better, or design a machine that could do it perfectly.

"I have rendered any working pony obsolete, with this new design, I bet I could make automatons that could do any labor-intensive work, and machines that will take care of the work for ponies, allowing us to focus on more important matters."

Rainbow Dash was done, and the only pony who noticed her standing from her chair was Fluttershy, but the buttery pegasus was so overwhelmed by the growling machine that she was immobilized in her spot. Still, she watched in sadness as Rainbow seemed to limp away from the room, her ears drooped in defeat, her hooves shuffling on the floor while her wings threatened to collapse. Rainbow Dash was gone before any of the others even noticed, as the sudden remark by Pinkie had caught their attention, leaving a saddened but curious Fluttershy stuck helpless on her seat, watching her oldest friends slink away in sorrow.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"I'm sorry dearest, but would you mind repeating what you just said?" Rarity asked as she lifted a hoof to her ear. "I think there must be something in my ear, because it sounded like you said that you have made ponies obsolete."

"Oh, no, that is ridiculous, Rarity." Pinkie replied with a wave of her hoof, stepping around her friends to stand in front of the group as the machine rumbled with the raw materials within it being worked into new clothes. "Why would I make ponies obsolete?"

"Thank goodness."

"I just made working ponies obsolete. With this machine in your shop, you no longer need to work on anything ever again, and don't you worry about the quality, this machine produces only the finest of fabrics. Observe." Pinkie stepped to the side as the first dress appeared from the output of the machine, a frilly, puffy pink and gold dress that brought awes from the entire group. Rarity gasped at the article, leaping forward as she eyed it over, her hooves delicately tracing the stitch seams, nodding her approval as she nearly drooled over the piece.

"The lace! The frills! Oh, Pinkie! This dress has to be one of the finest I've ever seen: how does this machine do it?!" Rarity asked as she studied each strip of cloth and lace, as she poured her attention over the entirety of the dress.

"It is beyond your understanding, but all you will need to know is that you simply have to provide this machine with fabric every week. As long as you keep it from running out of material, it shall offer you clothing for a very long time." Pinkie explained as she grabbed all the remaining supplies she had originally gotten, then she tossed the bundle of fabrics into the open input slot towards the back of the machine. "Now, if you will excuse me, I must consult with the Mayor about how well the town renovations are going."

Trotting out of the room merrily, Pinkie made her way out of Rarity's boutique, leaving the remaining girls staring in wonder at the dress that Rarity was holding. She hummed to herself as she walked down the path, watching in wonder as the stallions working in the streets were hauling buckets and buckets of dirt, while others toiled to lay the cobblestone within the fresh cement. She paused briefly to admire the progress they were making, but something seemed off about them: she expected them to be more enthusiastic about having improved roadways for their town, but these guys just looked miserable.

Thinking about it a little, she concluded they must simply be tired from the hard work, and that it was nothing to concern herself over. Humming an old tune that she couldn't quite place her hoof on, she worked her way around the various worksites that were set up, and she watched in passive awe at the various construction sites. She was proud at how far they had come in such a short time.

Eventually, she arrived at the rapidly renovated Town Hall, with its new massive solid oak doors dyed a deep brown to mark the town's history with its connection to the earth. She casually pushed the well-oiled doors open and marched her way through the new complex of halls and offices, having memorized the layout before they had even begun construction. She was about half way to the Mayor's office when she ran into the mare herself.

"Ah, there you are, Mayor Mare. I've come to speak with you about how the progress in town is going, but if I may ask: why are you here, and not in your office?" Pinkie said as she approached the confused-looking pony, who smiled when she saw a familiar face within the maze-like building.

"Pinkie! What a pleasant surprise! Well, we can talk in my office, as soon as I figure out where exactly it is, of course." The Mayor sighed as she did a complete circle trying to get her bearings where she was in the building.

"Mayor, did you not study the maps drawn for the building? I gave them to you a whole day before the construction was set to begin." Pinkie dead panned, as if her exceptional memorization was a common skill that she had expected everypony else to have mastered like she had. "Oh, right. It appears that my heightened skills have led me to forget that others are simply too stupid to possible adapt to situations as fast as I can. Mayor Mare, allow me to lead the way to your office."

The Mayor was about to comment on how Pinkie had mentioned the stupidity of the other ponies, but Pinkie was trotting away before she could get a word out. Fearing getting trapped in a place she couldn't recognize again, the Mayor trotted rapidly after the pink party pony, and a short time later, they were comfortably seated in the luxurious office.

"Now, it would appear that moral for construction could use some improvements, just in case anypony forgets that these projects are going to help the town become a major powerhouse in the industry of Equestria." Pinkie dived into business, leaving the Mayor staring at her while trying to pull out a few papers from her desk. "Of course, maybe mentioning that if work does not meet the deadline, we could always cut wages, simply to remind these ponies that we must stay on schedule. I have arranged for some property developers to come into town next week, and it would simply not do if we only had half the roads paved in cobblestone while the rest was torn up, dirty, disheveled dirt path. As for the renovated libraries and public offices: I think that if we hire another few workers, maybe shorten wages and increase the shifts about two hours, and we could have the primary real estate prepared for furnishing evaluations by the time the developers arrive."

"Uh, Pinkie?"

"Mayor, we might need to set up a meeting with the local fire department and the water services to see about rerouting the pipelines beneath the city streets, and perhaps trying to find a better sewage system. The one being put into place should hold for a few years, but will become obsolete with the new sewage filtration systems I have in development."

"Pinkie?"

"While we are at it, we should see about preparing some property for the newer factories that are going to be put in. I am going to speak with several interested companies that have sent me letters regarding the value of various landmarks within and around town." Pinkie tapped her hooves together while she pondered where she could relocate establishments that were on prime property.

"Pinkie?!"

"You know what? Cancel the construction along the southern roads, we are going to need to move some things around, and it looks like we are also going to be replacing certain roads, and removing others, so we need companies to purchase and allocate land before we do anything with those roads." Pinkie didn't even wait for a response, she just nodded to herself, thinking about the improvements and adjustments to the schedule that needed to be made. She shut the door behind her, completely ignorant to the startled shouting coming from behind the now shut door.

She idly walked through the halls, wondering just what she was going to do about the crew already working on the southern roads. As she exited the building, she came up with an explanation, and began to purposefully march her way down the streets before coming upon her destination. Much to her displeasure, there weren't any road crews nearby, though to her relief, the roads looked untouched. That also sparked a bit of irritation in her, as that meant that the crews hadn't been working when they were supposed to.

She was about to head to where the digging crews were established for the time being, when a dozen stallions, all covered in dirty hazard gear came out from behind a nearby building, some were hauling wagons full of picks and shovels, and others were carrying buckets across their backs.

"Hey you there!" She called as she trotted over to them. The lead stallion looked down at her before he spat on the ground and stepped up to her. "What do you think you are doing?! You were supposed to start working half an hour ago, and it looks like you haven't even started! Lucky for you, mister, there has been a change of plans, so why don't you just get your stuff and head to the northern sections of the city? They seem to be slacking behind, and this area is officially shut down until further notice."

The other stallions started grumbling about work and inconsistent order, but angrily began to turn around and started heading to the north. Pinkie watched them go, seeing how exhausted and tired some of them looked, which really confused her: they hadn't even started working yet. Unless. . .

Pinkie went around the building they had come from, and upon loose inspection, she discovered that they had cleared about a block of street, from an area that was set to be postponed. There was a brief flash of irritation in her as this meant that this part of town was probably going to be docked in retail value. But that irritation vanished as she remembered the haggard looks of the various working crews around town. She paused to consider just what kinds of things they were going to have to do, and all the changes that were likely to happen during the work they did.

"Is this really what needs to happen?" She asked herself, and an answer came from a sad voice in the back of her head.

"No. Do you really think that putting the town through this kind of stuff was going to end well? They need parties and time to have fun, and not-so-tough work, but here you are: forcing them to dig up roads and fill them with stone."

"A small price to pay for the improvement of the town." She concluded.

"But are these really improvements?"

"Hmm." Pinkie thought about it for a minute, her brain running the calculations for a moment. "Yes! The town will have greater benefits that improve happiness than the sorrow they feel now."

And without missing a step, she continued along her, and had made it half way through town again when a flash in the sky caught her attention. "What is it now? The writer sending some kind of funny message about how friendship is better than cold calculations and statistics? Sad that even he is trying to argue with hard facts, silly human."

The flash in the sky became a bright light, and as she stared at it for longer, she realized it wasn't a message from some sort of divine being that could control her very thoughts, but a meteoroid that was going to crash just outside of Ponyville. She panicked for a split second, until she ran a quick calculation in her head, and realized that the size of the meteoroid would mean that it only produced a crater about the size of a house, and it would crash a quarter mile away. The town was in now harm.

Finding its trajectory, Pinkie trotted to where she figured the thing would crash, interested in seeing if there was any viable space-metal that she could harvest and sell to fetch a nice price to a collector. However, as she began to trot, the meteoroid slowed. She had to pause, watching in awe as the light faded, revealing not a chunk of space rock, but an actual UFO. She watched as it slowly lowered from its incredible height, heading directly for her, and she couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen. Aliens were supposed to just be a myth, but here was an actual UFO, and she felt a little giddy with excitement. This was a monumental moment in history, and here she was: standing before the landing point of these extraterrestrials.

The massive silver saucer gently touched down in the streets between two houses, landing in a spectacular flash of lights and a cloud of dust.

Pinkie trotted over to the landing site, carefully inspecting the machine's design, eyes glossing over ever detail that would enable space-flight. As she studied the spacecraft from afar, a slot on the underbelly hissed and released a puff of steam from the seams as a door lowered itself to the ground. Pinkie stood in awe with baited breath as two super tiny green ponies clad in silver clothing hopped down from the entry. Utilizing ever ounce of brain power, Pinkie made sure to remember every detail she could, knowing that this was as important a discovery as she was ever going to make in her life.

The alien life forms were similar in build to ponies, quadrupedal beings with a head and likely a central nervous system located around an internal spinal column. She noted how these creatures lacked a mane, and their heads had large, inky black eyes devoid of irises. She thought it was strange that the creatures lacked ears, or at least, there was a lack of any visible ears.

Smiling wide, she approached the two small figures. As she did so, the two creatures looked at her, then between themselves, before one of them pulled out a small device, which made a few beeping noises. She stopped at a polite greeting distance, as the two beings looked at the device.

"Well, I'll say there Johnny: this is the one!" One of the creatures said in an excited, strangely east-coast accent that peaked Pinkie's curiosity, to which the other nodded rapidly. "This is the one: the smartest being in the universe. "Oh smart one: we are here to honor thee, we shall serve thee under any circumstances."

Pinkie stared at them for a second, briefly wondering just what was happening. Until she got over er confusion and decided that this was one of the more favorable outcomes of meeting an alien race. "If you are truly from another planet, and you clearly have the technology to perform space travel, perhaps we could have a more thoughtful discussion about the advance technologies that your kind uses? Come along, I have the perfect meeting place for us to talk."

"Actually, before we get to that, eh uh. You think we could use your bafroom? We've been chuggin' coffee for somethin' like a dozen parsecs." One of them said, suddenly shifting oddly from side to side. The other simply nodded.

"Yeah, a boddabing, boddaboom."

Pinkie sighed, but withheld her displeasure as she was certain that any spacefaring civilization would have to travel a great distance in order to find other lifeforms to interact with. She smiled and nodded, turning and leading them back to the center of town, with every citizen of Ponyville following in complete shock along the way. Before they had reached the Town Hall, where Pinkie had planned to hold a discussion in front of the town so that they could all see how she was the first to interact with an alien civilization, the two creatures started talking again. It confused Pinkie to no end how they spoke in such an accent, it sounded exactly like the ponies from the east coast.

"What did I tell ya, Johnny? She just might be the most intelligent being in existence, eh?!" The first said to the other, to which Johnny simply waved off.

"Yeah, yeah. But until we figure out for sure, I still don't owe ya nuthin!" Johnny replied eagerly.

They walked along, with the two speaking in rapid succession to each other, and the conversation they were having always seemed to revolve around the space age civilizations that they encountered. In the sense that these two were complaining, and complaining, and complaining about the traffic it took to get here. Pinkie was feeling the urge to just tear her ears out from listening to them complain, even though she was interested in hearing what the other races being Equestria could be. To her relief, they reached the Town Hall soon after, and she showed them to the restrooms, where they happily made their way inside.

Eventually, the two visitors had finally relieved themselves and were sitting with Pinkie at a table she had scrounged up. She was waiting patiently for them to get settled, while also watching out at the crown, hoping her friends would be there to witness history in the making with her. She had to stop scanning the crowd when she couldn't find them, and the aliens seemed ready to finally talk.

"So, what kinds of technology is it that you used to get here?" Pinkie asked hesitantly, unsure about how to proceed interacting with a completely different culture.

"Oh, that old thing is just somethin' my old man lent me for the trip over here, though I think you are asking about the pulse beams that hold it up. Nah, I ain't know nuthin about what keeps it up, sorry your genius-ness, but we can honor thee with what we do know." Johnny answered, before the other pitched in the appearant formal response to greeting the most genius being in the universe.

"By hangin' around and listening to, bagpipe music."

"Yeah."

"But. . .What? I was expecting that because you were travelling to our world, that you would seek to further spread knowledge, and form relationships with our civilizations. I was expecting that you would at least be able to educate us on the most advanced levels of physics that we have yet to learn. You know: a spirited discussion of end-dimensional physics, wormholes and warp-speed travel?" The two beings looked to each other, as if decided upon a response to something, though the look on their faces made clear they were working way above their own intelligence level.

"Would you settle for a spirited rendition of the Battle of Harlow?" And with that, Johnny nodded to his partner, who nodded back and pulled out some kind of technology that appeared to be a walkman-like musical device. The unknown alien slammed the big red button on it, and low and behold: bagpipe music began to play.

Pinkie's ears proceeded to die off, as Johnny sang the words to a song that she just could not understand. To her it sounded something like rambling nonsense: "We're a trade trade trade a drum type tree a tree tree trunk I draw."

The two aliens stood there dumbly for a second, waiting for Pinkie to respond, though she was completely speechless to the performance. She had thought that she would never really here anything that made her want to rip her ears off with a dull butter knife, but that performance did the impossible. Blinking her stupor away, she just turned and started walking through the crowd, allowing the mass of ponies to rush up to greet the alien visitors. As she made her way through the crowd, she did her best to find her friends, though the venture was highly unsuccessful.

Eventually, she did find her friends, only not in the place she had expected to find them in: she found the group of girls crowded around Rainbow Dash behind one of the buildings, just around the corner from the central area of town. The Wonderbolt in question was lying on the ground, simply staring into space, muttering to herself over and over about being a failure. As she drew closer, her friends seemed to notice her, and while some scowled, they all stepped to the side to show Pinkie just what condition Rainbow Dash was in.

It wasn't good.

Rainbow Dash's signature mane was matted down and dry, her eyes were bleak yet almost vacant, and her body was caked in mud, as if she had crawled through each and every construction site around town. Pinkie's mouth moved before she could even think about a proper reaction to her friend's state. "What happened to you?"

"You happened, Pinkie." Came Twilight's startingly sharp remark, making the pink pony turn to her, only to be greeted by a stern face that said 'shut up.' "You just had to go and ruin the biggest thing Rainbow Dash had going for her, and you did it in the most hurtful way possible. I don't know what's gotten into you, Pinkie, but whatever it is, we want the old Pinkie Pie back. This one is just a rude, inconsiderate, and selfish pony who won't even try to help her friends."

"But, Twilight: all I've tried to do is help out Ponyville. All I've been doing is improving the town-"

"And taking my own business away from me!" Rarity shouted towards Pinkie, another disheveled mane marking to the genius mare that her friends were not in the best of emotional states. "Sure, that machine makes the most wonderful dresses I've ever seen; but now I don't have anything to put my passion into! You've taken the only thing that I could have ever really used to make a living, and you did so acting as if you were helping me!"

"What Rarity is tryin' ta say sugarcube, is that while ya may have been tryin' ta help us, but ya only been hurtin' us, Pinkie." Applejack offered, though her tone was more defensive, as if she was holding back emotions before they got the best of her.

"Pinkie Pie. We've been friends for so long, and I don't know what it was that made you think that any of us wanted anything to change, but we loved you the way you were. Now, now all we can do is try to find a way to remember you as the friend you were: because you've made it clear that you don't consider us friends any more." Twilight concluded, and she wasted no time in returning to Rainbow Dash's side to offer support to the struggling athlete.

The others slowly did so as well, even Fluttershy turned to offer her oldest friend the help she needed, and the actions of those five mares stirred something within Pinkie's head.

'Is it really worth it to sacrifice everything I had for the sake of this? Is losing my friends worth tearing Ponyville apart?' The answer was made clear, and Pinkie felt the urge to remedy the wrongs she had made.

Without hesitating, Pinkie bolted away from her friends, hoping to repair the damage before it had gone too far. She rushed down the nearly empty streets, finally glad that the aliens were still visiting, as it meant that the entirety of Ponyville was busy with them. She made her way to the train station, getting there just in time to hop aboard the train to the Crystal Empire. Seating herself for the long ride, she hoped like she had never hoped before that Oleander was still where they had met, and that there was still time to fix this. Unfortunately for the impatient mare, the train just seemed to be going far too slow, and she had deadlines to meet. Knowing that she had truly impressive physical prowess, she decided to try her luck at a high risk, potentially high reward action. Opening her cabin window, Pinkie leaped from the train and onto the countryside next to the tracks, and maintaining perfect form, she galloped next to the tracks.

Finding that her speed allowed her to far surpass the train, the overnight trip to the Empire was cut to about three hours of running. Pinkie did regret her decision the moment she entered the city, as her legs finally burned from the intense exercise, but it was in the name of friendship, so she pushed on. She trotted down the cityscape, taking the somewhat familiar backroads until she came upon the building she looked for.

Not even bothering to knock, Pinkie simply opened the door and entered the shop, where a startled grey unicorn sat, sipping at tea whilst staring at the red and black book that was Fred. "Oleander, I need you to undo the spell you used on me, I need to be returned to normal."

The charcoal mare stared at her for a moment, trying to understand what was going on, until Fred politely reminded her of the events that had happened during her experiments in Equestria. After having the information back at her side, Oleander smiled as she stood and walked over to Pinkie. "I am sure I could get the counter spell ready, but why would you want to take the enhancements away? I'm sure that your newfound abilities were satisfactory, or were they not what you had hoped for?"

"They were terrible. Great, but terrible. I have an extremely high intelligence, but whenever I improve things for those I care about, they seem to not quite appreciate what I was doing for them, and they take it the wrong way. I was trying to help, but in the end, I was only hurting them more. There was also this thing with a couple of strange aliens that arrived, and they tried to worship me by playing bagpipe music. It was just a disaster: so if you would kindly return me to normal, that would be amazing."

"Well, alright, just sit down, and Fred and I will go over what I need to do." Pinkie nodded, taking a seat on the finally cleaned couch, and started to idly look around as Oleander and Fred spoke. "Sit tight: this won't hurt a bit. . ."

Pinkie awoke from the sudden darkness on the train ride back from the Crystal Empire, only; she had no memory of what had happened between Oleander casting her spell, and now. She was certain that the counter spell had worked, and just to make sure, she tried to do some complicated math in her head, which ended horribly: numbers appeared in her head, but she had the usual difficulty in trying to mess with large numbers. The result pleased her so much she had a goofy grin on her face the whole train ride back, lasting about three hours.

Trotting through town, she couldn't imagine just how much work was going on: she knew that she had organized it, but this was so much more work than her party-planning head was capable of doing. This was a crazy level of organization, and it was the kind that Pinkie doubted she would have been interested in: which confused her as to why she had even done it in the first place. Shrugging to herself and smiling happily, she made her way to Twilight's castle, hoping that she would be able to find at least one of her friends and start to fix things.

Knocking on the door, Pinkie ignored the constant sound of workers digging and building in the distance, instead choosing to wait for an answer. Starlight opened the door, looking quite surprised to see Pinkie bouncing at the doorstep. "Hiya Starlight! Is Twilight home?"

Pinkie paused to stop her happy bouncing, as matters were finally getting serious. "I really, really, really need to apologize to her. And to everypony else, but I was hoping I could talk to Twilight first."

"Pinkie, what are you doing here?" The Princess herself came walking out from behind the doorway, looking completely and utterly exhausted, no doubt from the noise of the construction crews.

"Twilight, I just wanted to say that I am really sorry about what happened. I just thought that if I were super smart, then I wouldn't make as many mistakes, and I would be able to show you all that I can be a super friend." Pinkie said as her mane deflated a bit and she looked at the ground sadly.

"Pinkie, I'm not the one you need to apologize to, but if you really want forgiveness, it's okay. Because I forgive you." Pinkie jumped right back to her original self, dive-tackling both Twilight and Starlight and pulling them into a hug while dragging them to the ground.

And apologies were shared between all of the friends, along with days rearranged for them all to spend time with each other, and to enjoy Pinkie being back to normal. Rainbow Dash recovered from her depression, upon realizing that Pinkie had sacrificed her own prowess for the sake of their Friendship. Rarity invited the girls over to scrap the machine: which she had named 'Johnny' in respect of the aliens that had left the night they arrived. And while Rainbow Dash and Applejack thoroughly enjoyed tearing the thing to bits, Pinkie was just happy that Rarity was more forgiving than Twilight under the circumstances.

While the girls may have enjoyed their bonding experiences over mistakes made, Ponyville seemed to recuperate from the madness that was Pinkie's improvements to the town. With no resident genius to fulfill any corporate contracts, most of the reserved properties were returned to their original owners. So while the roads were torn up, and some now had wonderful new cobblestone lining, most of Ponyville escaped permanent damage from the adventures of the Magical, Reckoning, Pinkie.


End file.
